A Different Beginning
by Neko-Salosa
Summary: What would have happened if Netto had died instead of Saito, well this fic will answer your question. A collaborative fic between me and a friend, Achie
1. Default Chapter

Bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep

The heart monitor made one monotonous, sickening sound. The sound of death.

Not only death but the death of a young soul.

The doctor stepped out into the hall there he saw a man a woman and the boy's twin. He quickly shut the door to cut of the horrible sound. "I am so sorry. He didn't have a chance." A nurse inside unplugged the heart monitor and the one note symphony stopped. The father sighed.

"Can I..." the unfinished question hung in the air.

"Yes, for a few minutes."

Yuuichihiro Hikari stepped into the hospital room. He saw the still figure lying on the bed. His face as white as the sheets surrounding him. His eyes filled with tears. He picked up his infant son's limp hand "I am so sorry, I promise you will see us again. I promise you... Netto."

It was the end of the first week of fifth grade and Saito Hikari was skating home as fast as he could. His eyes sparkled as he waited to tell his mom that he had gotten a 100 on his first test. He was dressed in a white shirt with black marks on the elbows, and over that was a dark green vest. He was wearing gray shorts with light green stripes going down the sides. His messy brown hair was tucked into a blue bandana with a red, black and gold symbol on the front. His shoes which were the same color as his vest has the roller-blades attached to them. He reached his house and walked into his home.

"I'm home mama." he called.

"Welcome home Saito."

"I got a 100 on my test."

"Wow, that's great! Your father has sent you a letter." she pointed over to the counter where a white envelope was lying on it.

"Yay! Papa remembered!" Saito dashed over to the counter picked up the letter and dashed upstairs leaving behind a very confused Haruka.

Saito dashed upstairs and shoved his PET into the slot. He put in the disk and quickly downloaded the program. His standard navi was there "Mail, Diary and Memo updates complete."

"That's all?"

"Will finish in a half an hour."

"Hmmmmm maybe papa is trying to trick me." Saito sat there for a half an hour and when the upgrade was complete he saw his standard navi start to change. When the data bits where gone there stood a navi wearing a dark blue jumpsuit with light blue stripes. A blue helmet shoved his nut-brown hair out in spikes. His brown eyes were kind but sharp.

"Hello my name's Lan."

Saito stared at the strange little Navi. Then a wide grin formed on his face.

"Hi! I'm Saito! Its really nice to meet you. I hope that we will get along alright. I'm kind of new at operating but I guess I'm pretty good," he blushed.

"..." Lan blinked and eyed Saito.

"Um, is something wrong?" the human shifted nervously.

"You look like a dork," Lan stated.

"Wha?" Saito lost his balance and fell over. "H-Hey! That's not very nice!"

"Well you do..." the Navi cocked his head to the side and smiled. "At least you Netbattle, right?"

"Yes..."

"Then you are forgiven."

"Forgiven for what? You're the one that's being rude!" Saito frowned. He'd never heard of a Navi with such an attitude before.

"For being a dork." A scream from the kitchen cut Saito off before he could retaliate.

"Mom!" he gasped and grabbed the PET. He ran down the stairs and entered the kitchen.

"Saito, the oven is on fire! I can't put it out!" Mrs. Hikari yelled. Saito grabbed the fire extinguisher and released its cold contents on the fire. For a moment it looked like it might go out but then ignited and seemed even hotter.

"Saito-kun! Saito-kun!" Lan screamed from inside his PET. "Plug me in! I'll beat the viruses!"

"I don't know..." Saito hesitated.

"Do it before we all die, you idiot!" Lan yelled even louder. Saito jumped and quickly plugged his Navi in.

"Plug in, Lan. EXE! Transmission!"

Lan quickly set to work destroying all the viruses in the system. If he didn't hurry, Saito might get hurt! And there was no way he could let that happen. After a few moments he finished off the last virus.

"There we go...Huh?" he turned to see a strange body within the cyber fire. "Hey! What are you doing over there?" The Navi didn't answer and plugged out of the system. Lan frowned but did likewise.

"That was awesome!" Saito cheered. "I can't believe how strong you are!" The human half expected some kind of cheeky remark but was surprised by what the little navi said.

"Are you okay, Saito-kun?" Lan looked a little worried. "I mean, you did get pretty close to that fire..."

Saito was taken aback by Lan's sudden change of tone. He recovered and smiled broadly at his new partner. "Yes. I'm fine."

"Good," Lan blushed slightly. "So... Uh, about that dork thing... I think I can deal with it."

Saito didn't get mad, he just smiled even wider. "Glad to hear it."

He had a feeling that he and Lan would get along just fine.

The next morning the sun rose and shone upon the window of Saito's room. The light crept sneakily toward the sleeping boy's bed. It moved across the floor and onto his pillow. Saito stirred slightly then opened his eyes.

"Nnnnh...Lan, what time is it?" he stretched and rolled over to face his navi friend who looked as though he had just woken up as well.

"Ah, 8:30."

"What!" Saito jumped out of bed and tripped over his sheets then he received a mouth full of carpet. "Owwwww!"

"Hahahahaha! You okay?" Lan giggled loudly.

"No I'm not okay. I'm already thirty minutes late for school! Why didn't you wake me up?" Saito ran around the room trying to get all his clothes on and pack his backpack at the same time.

"Was I supposed to?" Lan asked innocently.

"Yes! I asked you to last night!"

"Oh...Oops."

Saito slowly entered the class room with his head bowed in shame.

"Sorry I'm late, Mariko-sensei..." he said softly.

"That's okay, Saito. You've never been late before, just don't make a habit of it. Now please take your seat."

Saito did as he was told and sat next to his friend, Meiru.

"Why are you so late?" she asked quietly.

"My alarm clock forgot to wake me up..." he grumbled bitterly.

"I resent that!" Lan called from his PET.

"Oh! You got a Customized Net Navi?" Meiru turned toward him. "Can I see?"

"Sure," Saito handed her the blue device.

"Hello, there, little navi, I'm Meiru!" she waved to the digital figure.

"Hi! I'm Lan. EXE, Saito Hikari's Net Navi," he said.

"Hey, he's pretty cool," Meiru handed Saito the PET.

"Don't say that. It'll go to his head," the boy took his PET and placed it on the desk.

"Hey, Hikari!" a loud obnoxious voice called. The owner soon had Saito in a head lock. "I thought I told you to stay away from my Meiru-chan!"

"D-Dekao! Let go-! I...can't breathe!" Saito gasped.

"Oy! Ugly dude! Leave my operator alone!" Lan yelled angrily from the monitor.

"Hm? What's this?" the bully snatched the PET up to get a better look at it.

"H-Hey! Hands off, fatty!" the Navi snarled.

"Dekao, give Lan back!" Saito pleaded and reached out for it. Dekao lifted it just out of the smaller boy's reach, earning another wave of frantic insults from the pixilated warrior.

"This Navi must be defective or something!" the over weight boy snorted in disgust. "Stupid thing should learn to keep it's mouth shut. Not to mention it looks totally wimpy. No way it would be any match for my Gutsman..." He tossed the PET back to it's owner.

"Ack! Saito-kun, catch me!" Lan cried as the devise tumbled through the air. Saito fumbled for a second then held it securely in his hands.

"That wasn't very nice, Dekao!" Meiru scolded sternly. "Leave Saito-kun alone."

"Aw, I was just fooling around, Meiru-chan!" He put Saito in another "friendly" headlock. "See?"

"GET OFF, YOU DOUGH BOY REJECT!" Lan screamed. He was not just mad, he was infuriated. That stupid jerk had not only insulted him and his operator, but now he was trying to ack like it was no big deal. Well, it was! Dekao had totally crossed the line and, if Lan could, he would of strangled the annoying human.

"How dare you? I've just about had enough of your mouth!" Dekao glared at the PET. "That does it! After school me and Gutsman are going to rip you apart!"

"Me and Saito will make a laughing stalk of that joke you call a Navi!" Lan challenged.

"Lan... Be quiet...!" Saito was terrified.

"We'll see! You better not chicken out, Hikari, or else!" the over grown fifth grader then stomped off to his seat.

"Now look what you've gotten me into!" Saito groaned.

"Relax! We can take him, no sweat!" Lan smirked.

"I hope so..."

"We're here Lan." said Saito nervously. "Why on earth did you do that?"

"No one will pick on you in front of me and _no one_ will ever insult me and get away with it."

Saito sweatdropped "Oh..."

"Prepare to get creamed by my Gutsman." said Deako as he came in the room.

"Will you be OK?"

"Only if you can operate."

"OK then... plug-in! Lan.EXE, transmission."

Both navis were in the field. "Prepare to be defeated." Lan yelled.

"Gutsu de gutsu."

"What too dumb to talk?"

Gutsman did not like this cheeky navi and ran up to him preparing to hammer the annoying little brat into the ground. Lan smiled and put up his hand as he caught the giant yellow fist heading towards his face. Even Saito was surprised.

"Lan..."

"Well operator what now?"

"Oh ummmmm..."

"Geese some NetOp you are." Lan pushed the fist away and started to punch him in rapid succession. But as soon as he was about to finish him off Roll came into the battle.

"Meiru, she... she!"

She opened a link and showed what was happening.

There was a raging inferno in Meiru's room. Meiru was on the floor of her room and was coughing. She was almost unconscious and no one seemed to be trying to help her. He was alone and she was trapped.

Lan's and Saito's eyes opened wide.

"Lan go through the link and try to stop it." said Saito, his voice shaking.

Lan nodded and disappeared.

"Gutsman, save my Meiru-chan!" yelled Dekao frantically.

"De gutsu!" Gutsman followed Lan into the link that Roll had provided.

"Don't worry Roll-chan." said Saito gently. "We'll save her, I promise."

Roll nodded and disappeared into the link.

Lan appeared in the inferno. He started to blast the viruses but then he saw a shadow. He grabbed Roll and jumped. Where they were standing appeared a firey bomb.

"Heh, you could evade my attacks. Quite impressive for one so small."

"Who are you?" Lan glared at the intruder ready to deal out some payback for the quip about his size.

"My name is Fireman. Welcome small one."

Dekao and Saito got Meiru out of her house and started to look for a way to reach someone for help, when Deako's PET beeped.

"Gutsman, logged out." The big navi was now in repair stasis mode in the PET.

"Gutsman!" Dekao was horrified at the toll that was taken on his navi. It seemed that he was almost burnt to deletion.

Saito looked at his own PET and saw that Lan was in danger. "Lan..." he looked at Dekao "Stay here with Meiru." And he ran back into the fiery house. He plugged into the oven.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" yelled Lan. "Get out of there NOW!"

"No, you're in danger." Saito glared at his headstrong navi. He was NOT about to loose an argument too his navi.

Lan growled. "I guess I will have to finish this fast so my operator doesn't die." he said to Fireman. "No hard feelings."

"You are quite sure of your self." Sneered Fireman. "Let's see how you do up against THIS! Fire arm!" he smashed his arms onto the already hot ground and two towers of flame came out of it.

"Lan!"

The small blue navi looked at the oncoming attacks. "Saito, please tell me you have a water battle chip!"

Saito dug frantically through his battlechip pocket and came out with an aqua tower.

Meanwhile in the PET, Lan had successfully dodged one of the oncoming towers but was now pursued by the second. The tower was so close he could feel the heat.

Fireman started to laugh as Lan turned around to face the flames. "So, going to die standing up?" he laughed

"Stand up, yes. But who said anything about dying?" asked Lan

"Aqua tower, slot in!" yelled Saito pushing the tiny battlechip into the battle chip unit.

"Aqua tower!" Lan slammed his hand onto the ground in the same fashion as Fireman but instead a stream of cool water came out instead.

The water flowed in a tower towards the flame counterpart and both crashed together and digitized.

"Saito! Another battlechip, now!"

Saito nodded, a battlechip already in his hand. "Battle Chip, sword, slot in!"

Lan rushed forward and feinted to the left and did a backhand slash.

Fireman's arm came off and the red navi clutched the now digitizing stump. "We will meet again." said Fireman as he logged out.

"Lan!" Roll rushed forward and hugged the blue navi. Lan blushed red and looked at the pink girl navi. She was really pretty...

"Are you Ok?" he asked Saito when they were outside.

"Yes, I'm okay and the doctors said Meiru-chan will be perfectly fine by tomorrow.

"Thank god. I was really worried when you went in like that. I could have handled him. You have to promise me you will never put yourself in danger like that again."

Saito was touched at how much his friend cared. "I can't promise that if you are in danger. But I will never deliberately do it, I promise."

"You better not, dork."

"Hey!"

That night Saito sat down at his desk working furiously at his homework. Lan's PET was placed next to him where the Navi could see what he was up to.

"Saito-kun, can't you do this later? I mean, its Friday and I'm bored. Let's Net Battle! You need the practice!" Lan announced.

"I also need to do my work. School is very important."

"All work and no play, makes Saito-kun a dork."

"If you're really that bored you could always help me out..." Saito teased.

"Uh...! No, that's okay. I'll just...um..." Lan looked around the monitor for something, anything, to save him from having to use his "brain". The young operator giggled at his Navi.

"It's okay, Lan, I can do it on my own," he giggled when Lan made a small sigh of relief. "Just give me a few minutes and I promise that I'll play with you..."

"Fine...Saito-kun, its been a few minutes. Will you play now?"

"No, I'm not done."

"...Now?"

"No..."

"...Now?"

"Lan...!"

"Can we play now?"

Lan spent the rest of the night in the sock drawer.

The next day Saito woke up and gave a long stretch. All his homework was out of the way and he had the rest of the weekend to do whatever he wanted.

"MMPH!" a muffled voice screamed from one of his drawers.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Saito threw open the drawer and searched out his PET and was met with his less than happy Navi friend. "Good morning, Lan?" he offered weakly.

Lan's eyes narrowed and his face turned red like he was ready to explode. The human braced himself...

Haruka Hikari hummed to herself as she placed some waffles on the table. It was such a lovely day! She giggled at some birds who were singing happily along with her. Yes, it was a very Disney moment...

**"SAITOOOOOO! YOU JERK!" **much colorful language followed along with the sound of her son trying to apologize and calm his partner down.

"...I guess Saito's up..." she sweatdroped. "I wonder if that Navi has a bug or something...I can't imagine Yuuchiro programming anything like that..." The mother mused. "Oh, well, as long as Saito's happy..."

"Look, I said I was sorry..." Saito felt guilty for what he had done to Lan. But the Navi wouldn't hear any of it.

"Ha! So you say! Next time, why don't you shove me in a hamper! I'm sure it would be a lot better than your stinky socks!" came Lan's heated retort.

"Lan, you're in a PET. You can't smell it..."

"Its the principle of the matter!"

"Saito, eat up now," Haruka waved her son to the table.

"Thank you, Mama!" Saito took his seat and listened to Lan rant for a while until he was cut off by a beeping noise.

"Saito-kun, you've got mail," Lan's mood did a 180 and he now seemed very curious and a little excited. "Its from Gutsman! I bet he wants a rematch!"

"Let me see..." Saito read the E-mail carefully. "It says that Dekao was bitten by something and is in the hospital!"

"Serves the pig right!" Lan cheered from his place on the screen.

"Lan!" Saito scolded his partner. "We should go and check on him and make sure he's alright."

"Do we have to?" Lan whined. "You promised that we would Net Battle!"

"We will after we visit Dekao!" Saito said firmly. "Thanks for the meal, Mama! It was great!" he hopped out of his seat and headed out the door to come face to face with Meiru.

"Oh, Saito, I uh...Guess you got the E-mail from Gutsman?" she asked.

"Yes, we were heading over to go visit him."

"Dumb flubber gut probably just wants attention..." Lan grumbled.

"I think it's very sweet of you two to go check on Dekao like that," Roll's voice drifted from Meiru's belt. Lan didn't complain at all the rest of the way.

"Why are you guys here?" Dekao grumbled. He was totally miserable. So miserable that Lan almost felt sorry for him, almost.

"Gutsman said that you were hurt so we came to check on you," Meiru told him. Dekao slapped Gutsman's PET shut.

"You should be grateful!" Lan called from his PET.

"Lan, be quiet!" Saito shushed.

"I'm happy to see that my Meiru-chan is here... _You_ and your, one card short of a full deck, Navi however..." Saito quickly hit the mute button to prevent Lan from retaliating.

"Come on now, you guys. If you want to be left alone we can understand," Meiru smiled gently. "Let's go Saito!"

"Right!" Saito started after her but tripped over his feet and wavered when a tissue box came in contact with his head.

"Stay away from my Meiru-chan!" the perpetrator snarled.

"Ah...AHH!" Saito lost his balance and tumbled to the ground trying to grab hold of anything that could stabilize him. Unfortunately for Dekao, that happened to be his blanket.

Everyone froze at the gruesome sight. The horrible lump which had protruded from under the sheet was now reveled. The fall had jarred the mute button and Lan's laughter filled the room.

Attached to Dekao's leg was a toy cat.

"I-I-I'm so sorry!" Saito gasped as he stumbled to his feet. "Dekao, I didn't mean to..."

_"GET OUT!"_ Dekao screamed and sat up, making as if he was going to strangle Saito. This jarred the strap that supported his leg loose and it hit the bed with a small thump. "...nnngGAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

"I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry! Lan stop laughing!" Saito yelped then shot out the door. A giggling Meiru was soon to follow.

On the way back home Saito was talking with Meiru "I didn't mean to... the tissue box and the..."

"Saito, you have no right to blame your self for something he brought onto himself. He has probably picked on people like that all his life. It was just a chain reaction he started." said Lan. "It was entirely his fault."

"Lan is right." said Meiru

This brought a surprised glance from Saito, but he stayed quiet.

"He never should have done that..." said Meiru, getting ready to rant but she was interrupted by Masa coming down the road.

"Oh a date." He said grinning wickedly.

"N-no I.. I mean we..." started Saito but he was quickly cut off by his partner.

"Of course it's a date pops," said Lan "and who are you?"

"Oh a voice?" Masa jumped with his hand over his heart "Is there a demon around here?"

"Down here idiot." said Lan

Masa looked down at the PET and then looked at Saito "You should teach that thing some manners."

"L-lan please..." said Saito quietly, silently begging Lan to stay quiet.

Lan ignored him no matter how many messages were sent his way, subliminal or otherwise. "Well, who are you?" he asked rudely.

"I am Masa-san fisherman extordenaire and dedicated to promoting calcium to all the youth of Japan!" he said striking a pose. A large Japanese flag came out of nowhere and became the background as a wave crashed.

Everyone sweatdropped, even Lan.

"Riiiiiiiiiiiight." said Lan. "You have weird friends Saito, but at least this one is not as rude as the doughboy kid in the hospital."

"Hospital?" asked Masa.

"Yes Deako-kun is in the hospital." said Saito quietly trying not to blush. He really needed to have a talk with Lan.

"Oh, dear! Someone his size will be in trouble if he doesn't take his calcium... I am coming Deako-kun!" and he rushed off.

"H-he wasn't kidding about the calcium was he?" said Lan disbelievingly.

"No, he never stops ranting about calcium. You'd think it was sent from heaven the way Masa talks about it." said Meiru sighing

"Well, calcium _is_ important." said Saito

Lan snorted. "Yeah... riiight. I totally believe that."

"You're a navi." Laughed Saito. "You don't know what it means to eat."

When they turned the corner they saw Mariko-sensei going into the antique shop. Both knew about the fortune teller who worked there and curiosity got the better of them. They went inside to see what was going on.

Saito and Meiru quietly entered the antique shop. The room was furnished with all kinds of ancient instruments and pottery. A scent of lavender and other spices haunted the room.

There, at the front desk, a young woman had a gothic look about her stared into a crystal ball. Her eyes were a cold violet and seemed to see beyond even the heavens and the stars. She stared deeply into the sphere of glass instead of at her costumer, Mariko-sensei.

The teacher fidgeted in her seat and muttered something that Saito couldn't quite pick up on.

"Mariko-sensei!" Meiru called. The curly haired woman jumped and slowly turned to take a peak at the two children, made a squeaking noise and hid behind the chair again blushing and muttering to herself. Saito found this behavior very strange but said nothing. Lan, however had a lot to say.

"I can't believe a _teacher_ believes in this sort of stuff!" the navi scoffed in disapproval.

"Er, well, I-I'm not here to...not really...Its just...um..." Mariko stumbled over her words and turned several more shades of red. Saito felt a little sorry for his sensei. Meiru calmly stepped up to the fortune teller.

"I've always wanted to have my fortune told! Could you tell me, please?" she asked.

"It sounds interesting..." Saito smiled thoughtfully.

"It sounds like bull-"

"Lan! Hush!" the human blushed with embarrassment then turned to the fortune teller. "I'm really sorry about all that..."

"...Silence," was all the woman said. Saito seemed somewhat surprised by the blunt request and did as he was told. Mariko and Meiru hovered over the orb curiosity shining in their eyes. Even Lan was quiet.

Moments passed that seemed to drag on for hours. The whole room seemed to freeze. Not even the traffic outside registered in their ears.

"Water," the psychic whispered.

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Lan muttered. Saito ignored his navi's statement.

"I'm a little confused, too..." he said softly.

"Miyuki-san, please continue," Mariko added.

"I see water in your future, Saito..." Miyuki stared at him directly. Saito felt his hair stand on end. "...and great danger."

"Danger? Are you threatening Saito-kun!" Lan growled menacingly.

"...Your navi..." Miyuki looked at the PET.

"I'm sorry for his rudeness," Saito said quickly, more out of a new reflex than anything. Apologizing for his navi had become a natural thing to him.

"There is something I sense about him...He is very special...It's almost like he could be..." Saito listened intently to her words. What about Lan? Why did she think he was so interesting? Lan had fallen silent and felt a deep sensation of dread flow through him. Did she know the truth? How?

_Please...Don't let her know...Don't tell Saito..._

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHGGGG!" A scream of pain snapped everyone out of their dreamy state. Lan's prayers had been answered!

_Someone up there likes me._

"Saito-kun! Lets check it out!" the navi cheered.

"Right." The three customers left the shop in a hurry leaving the psychic to brood over what she had sensed. That navi...

_It felt human...It felt like...Saito._

_OOOOOOOOOOOOO_

_People on the boards really seemed to enjoy this fic, so I'm posting it here for your viewing pleasure. If you review enough maybe Achie will give us a new chapter!_

_Anywho, hope you liked it. There's alot of chapters in this one XD_


	2. Chapter 2

Lan's day was getting better and better. Dekao was laying on the sidewalk with not one, but two robotic pets attached to his leg.

"Dekao, are you okay?" Mariko gasped, worried about her student's well being. 

"No! It hurts!" the boy whined.

"..." Lan opened his mouth.

"Don't say it," Saito muttered without even looking at his partner. Lan clamped his mouth shut and grinned evilly.

"Eeek!" Mariko cried when the dog robot leapt up and snatched her purse right off her shoulder. "Oh, my stuff...!"

"Saito-kun! After it!" Lan ordered.

"Huh? Oh, okay!" Saito slipped on his skates and took off after the crazy beast.

"I'm coming too!" Meiru called and leapt onto her scooter.

"Meiru-chan, wait for me!" Dekao started to his feet, then was painfully reminded of why he had been in the hospital to begin with. "Nnnnhhh..." 

"...GAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Dekao's screams caught up with Saito.

"Ack!" the boy nearly lost his balance from surprise. "Good grief...That had to hurt..." he frowned. "Lan, stop laughing!" 

Saito and Meiru chased the mutt all the way into the subway and on to a train. Both humans gasped and tried to regain oxygen to their lungs from the chase.

"We...forgot to...pay...!" Saito gasped.

"I'm sure...they won't...mind..." Meiru said slowly catching her breath. "Look, there it is!" she pointed to the dog who was laying on the floor with the hand bad clutched in it's jaws.

"What are you waiting for?" Lan frowned at his operator. "Go get it!"

"But...it might bite me..." Saito whimpered.

"Well, that's a risk that I'm just going to have to take," Lan nodded to himself. Saito rolled his eyes but reached out to take back the stolen item.

_Who's brilliant idea was it to put razor teeth on a child's toy, anyways?_

Saito was surprised to find that the dog was quite tame. And he easily received the purse and gave the dog a good pat on the head.

"Strange..." he mused.

"Maybe it was a virus?" Meiru offered. 

"Maybe...Ah!" the train gave a nasty jolt. Saito looked up at the speedometer. It was already going over 200 mph and gaining speed.

"Oh, crap..." Lan groaned.

They all watched in horror as the train speedometer started to go out of control. 200, 210, 220, it kept rising at an unnerving rate.

"Wha-whats happening?" asked Saito

"I don't know! Maybe something happened to the conductor." said Meiru

Saito looked into the cockpit and saw that the conductor was knocked out. 

"H-he's unconscious." said Saito in a whisper. 

Lan gasped and Roll grabbed onto his arm suppressing a small whimper.

"We're in a lot of trouble here." Lan muttered.

He looked at Meiru who was a sickly pale color. He realized that everyone was in danger. He ran to the back of the car and picked up the fire extinguisher. "Get out of the way, please." he yelled as he ran up and threw it with all his strength. Lan cheered as it smashed through the glass. Saito and Meiru walked into the cockpit and got the conductor out with the help of some other passengers. "Ok let's see if I can steer this thing."

Saito reached for the steering mechanisms, and tried to move them. However, they seemed to be frozen in place, and wouldn't budge, even when Meiru tried to help.

When all attempts to steer it failed Lan spoke up. "Plug me in. I might be able to fix it."

"Will you be ok?" asked Saito worriedly.

"Geese, do you have to worry about me all the time?" Truthfully deep down Lan was very touched that he cared so much.

In her PET Roll smiled as she heard Lan's voice waver. A small change undetectable to human ears but she heard it. 'He cares so much.' she thought.

"Ok, Plug-in, Lan.EXE, Transmission!"

Lan went into the computer not knowing what he was going into.

As soon as he went into the computer he was attacked by a barrage of electric type viruses. They came at him on all sides and he was caught off guard.

"AHHHH!" he yelled as one big one hit him.

"Lan! Are you okay?" asked Saito

"Send me a chip!" yelled Lan

"Oh! All right, uhhh, sword battle chip, slot in!"

Lan's arm formed to the shape of the sword and Lan struck out at the viruses mercilessly. "Take that you overgrown lightning bug!"

After Lan had deleted all of the viruses he told all of them to get into the back of the train.

"Ok now undo the cars."

"OK." said Saito worried about the people on the train. He undid the safety lock with the help of the conductor. But as the trains pulled apart he realized that Lan was still on. "Lan." he yelled and jumped on the other train.

"Saito!" yelled Meiru. 

"Lan!" yelled Roll.

On the other train the robotic dog had followed Saito's desperate flight and was trying to get him on the train. "Lan." he grunted.

"SAITO WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" yelled Lan as he saw Saito's desperate flight over the train.

"That depends, it seems he's trying to save you. Pity he can't do much." 

Lan spun around to see a very tall navi behind him. He had yellow stripes on his arms and legs and what looked like an electricity conductor on his back.

"Who are you?" he asked

"I'm Elecman, the one who will delete you." 

"Yeah, and what makes you say that? Saito knows what he's doing."

"It won't matter, because you'll be deleted before he can get up here!"

Saito grunted as he finally came up onto the train's platform. He lay on the ground panting and the robotic dog gave a whine.

"Lan..." he quickly got up and went over to the computer just in time to see Lan get slammed into the ground by an electric attack.

"LAN!" he yelled.

"Shut up and send me a chip!" panted Lan

"Wha... oh yeah. Battle chip, long sword, slot in!"

Lan charged at Elecman with his sword raised. He managed to slash his side before he got thrown back once again.

"Heh, you're pretty good aren't you?" Lan asked as his hand returned to normal.

Elecman didn't answer. "LIGHTNING!" he yelled as the attack came from nowhere to hit Lan.

Lan screamed with pain and Saito was unable to take his eyes off him. "Lan!"

The attack wore off and Lan slumped to the ground. Elecman went over and his arm formed into an Elecsword.

"Saito, send me a battle chip." said Lan through gritted teeth. Didn't his partner know how to operate?

"Sword battle chip, slot in!" 

Elecman brought down his sword and Lan parried it with his own, then he ran forward and struck Elecman through the middle. 

"It's not like you'll survive anyway. This train in due for impact in a matter of seconds. Enjoy your last remaining minutes with your operator."

**Elecman logging out**

Lan rounded on Saito. "What the hell did you put yourself in that kind of danger for?"

"I-I..."

"No I's, you are going to hurt yourself. You promised... Ahhhhh stop the train!"

Wha..." said Saito surprised. Then he realized. "AHHHHHH!"

"Pull on the break, idiot."

Saito stood there petrified at the oncoming wall. Lan rushed over to the program and activated it. He shoved his power into it hoping he would be on time... 

The train stopped 3 cm from the oncoming wall. Lan slumped over the controls.

"Owwww..." he groaned.

"Lan, are you, what... Are you okay?" he said finally

Lan nodded.

"Thank goodness." said Saito

Just then the door whooshed open and fireman came in. They turned on the hoses and sprayed the very hot computer with water, getting Saito in the process.

Lan's laughter filled the room.

Outside Meiru rushed over to Saito and hugged him. "Oh my god you're all wet!" 

Saito had an flashback of all the firefighters rushing in and turning on their hoses. And Lan's laughter... but it sounded different, not mocking but a weak relived laugh.

In the net Roll had jumped on Lan. "Oh you're ok! Saito said what you did. I am surprised you aren't deleted with how much energy that took." 

Lan relaxed in Roll's embrace and then he realized just how tired he really was. "I just wanted to protect my br..." Roll strained to hear the last word but she realized he had collapsed. She smiled at how innocent he was and wondered what he was going to say.

"Lan?" asked Saito worriedly.

Roll smiled at how much like brothers they were.

"Don't worry. He is just tired." said Meiru.

Brothers... thought Roll.

Saito groaned and laid flopped on his bed. His weary eyes drifted to the PET that had the words "recharging" written across it. It had said that for over 28 hours and Lan had yet to even wake up.

The boy stared longingly at the small device, imagining that his little blue friend would pop up any moment now and tell him that he was okay and force Saito to practice net battling. But no figure appeared though.

_If only I had just put on the breaks... Lan keeps getting hurt because of me._ Tears formed in his soft green eyes. _I must be the worst operator ever..._

He barried his head into his pillow and sniffled as quiet sobs escaped him. If he were able to net battle and were braver then he could keep this from happening to his Navi.

_But to get better...I have to practice..._ Saito lifted his head and dried his tears. He knew what he had to do. The human settled himself down at his desk and turned on the net battle program that Lan had shown him and pulled out his battle chips. 

There was no way he would let something like this ever happen again. It was way into the early hours of the morning before sleep drew him from his training.

Too bad it was a school night. 

"Saito-kun! Saito-kun? Wake up!"

"Nnnh..." the sleepy boy muttered. He didn't want to wake up.

"Dude, you've over slept past me! That is not a dork-thing! You're ruining your reputation!"

"...L...L-Lan...?" Saito's eyes snapped open despite how tired they were. "Lan! You're okay!"

"Save the happy reunion for later. It's past 9 o'clock! Meiru just sent an E-mail and they say there is a new student today! I wanna' see if they net battle," Lan ranted on as Saito threw on his clothes. For once he didn't yell at the program for waking him up late.

"Lan..." the operator interrupted.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks...I owe you a lot."

"..." Lan blushed and looked away. "Y-You haven't listened to a thing I've said have you! YOU ARE LATE!"

Saito smiled widely for the first time since the subway incident the and skated toward the school taking his time.

"Hikari Saito!" Mariko yelled angrily. "This is the third time in a row that you have been late for school! One more time and I'm calling your parents."

"Yes, sensei..." Saito blushed as several of the students burst into laughter. The boy slowly took his place at his desk.

"Plug me in!" Lan whispered just loud enough for Saito to here. Without a word Saito did as he was told. 

_"Lan!"_ Roll hugged the male navi. "I was so worried! Are you okay?" She looked him over for any sign of injury or fatigue.

"I'm fine, Roll-chan," he shrugged her off blushing like crazy. "You're worse than Saito-kun..."

"Guts! Guts!" a giant fist rapped itself around Lan's neck and hoisted it's unsuspecting prey to eyelevel. "Big mouth navi stay away from Roll-chan!" 

"Hope you didn't kill any I.Q. points coming up with that little speech..." Lan snarled back at the enraged Gutsman. 

"Gutsman, put Lan down!" Roll ordered. "He has been through a lot lately and you aren't helping!"

"Ha! I can take this guy anytime!" Lan announced. Gutsman's eyes narrowed dangerously but that didn't faze the blue navi in the least. 

"Gutsman...!" Roll warned getting into a fighting position. The giant looked from the pink beauty to the little smart alec and back.

"Ahem, pardon my intrusion, but I do believe that one should respect a lady's request..." a polite voice announced the arrival of a tall brown and gold navi. "Oh, where are my manners? I am Glyde, Yaito-sama's Net Navi." He bowed slightly.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Roll," the pink navi offered to shake his hand. Being the gentleman type, Glyde reached down and took her hand and falling to one knee, gave it a soft kiss.

"A pleasure to meet you." Roll blushed deeply.

"Guuutssss!" the barbaric navi growled and dropped Lan. He had a new target to take care of. Lan glared from Gutsman to Glyde, a little unsure of which one he would rather beat into the dirt... 

Saito starred in awe with the rest of the class as a short girl in a red dress and long braids wrote across the board with record speed. He wasn't sure if even Mariko-sensei could answer the math problem...

"V-Very good, Yiato-chan!" the young teacher cheered.

BRING!

"Oh, that's the lunch bell! Lunch break everyone!" she announced. Everyone put away their books and got out their lunch money.

"Lan, I'm going to get something to eat...Uh, what are you doing?" Saito quirked an eyebrow at his navi who had Gutsman in some sort of leg hold bending it back just enough to give his victim pain. A new navi lay unconscious a few feet away.

"Nothing," Lan looked up at his operator innocently a sweet smile that would put a baby to shame spread across his face. Saito groaned and shook his head.

"Where did Roll go? She was supposed to keep an eye on you..."

"She went with Meiru-chan to get some lunch!" his smile widened. "Oh, look! It's The Cow!" 

"That's DEKAO...!" a menacing voice growled dangerously from behind Saito. The human jumped and felt certain doom press down on him. "What the hell is your crazy ass navi doing to my Gutsman?"

"Crazy _and_ powerful!" Lan announced proudly. Dekao howled with rage and hoisted Saito up by his shirt.

_"You and that waste of pixels are dead meet after school today...!"_ he hissed. He would of continued his threat if not for Gutsman's scream of pain. Both operators turned to see Lan squeezing the life out of his victim's leg. But the navi didn't even seem to notice his captive.

He was watching Dekao and Saito.

"L-Lan...let go before you really hurt him..." Saito said. Lan dropped the leg and looked at Gutsman like it was the first time he had ever seen the large navi.

"Oops..." he muttered and blushed a little. Gutsman glared daggers and nursed his sore leg. "Sorry, 'bout that."

"I'm back!" Roll announced then noticed the unconscious Glyde. "Oh! What happened here?" She quickly used one of her hearts to heal the navi butler.

"Uhg...My head..." Glyde groaned.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I-I'm not sure..." the navi held his head. Saito eyed Lan suspiciously but the navi avoided his gaze.

"WOAH!" the rest of the classroom gasped. The two humans turned just in time to see three butlers enter the room and spread out a gourmet meal in front of Yaito. The sweet smell wafted across the room and Dekao forgot all about his little feud with Saito.

"That smells great!" he cheered.

"Yeah..." Saito agreed.

"I'll say!" Mariko sighed.

"Oh, brother..." Meiru groaned from her seat and buried her hands with embarrassment. It was just an average day at Densan Academy.

"Umm, Lan where are we?"

"The shortcut to the arcade is through the park."

"I don't think this is the park." 

"Well it's full of trees so it looks like the park." 

"You brought me her cause there were trees?"

"Oh, your precious grammar is slipping." said Lan laughing.

"Lan!" Saito was actually getting angry.

"What are you doing here!" said an angry voice.

"I-i'm sorry. I got lost."

"Nuh-uh we are in the park... you said the park was a place full of trees."

"Lan hush." 

The lady eyed the boy. "Hmmm, well please come with me. Yaito-sama is the one who deals with trespassers." 

"Trespassers!" Said both.

"Did it ever occur to you we were on private property!" said Saito getting very annoyed.

"What I thought it was a park, next time give me a better definition."

"Ok how about the place that is labeled "park" on the map."

"What map!"

"There is a map in every PET!"

"How was I supposed to know that!"

"How, Lan do you..." 

Both stopped bickering under the evil eye of the maid. She led them to a big pink door. "Yaito-sama, the intruders are here."

"Thank-you please resume your post." 

"Hai." The maid left.

Yaito looked at Saito severely. "So what should I do with you. I could send you to the police since you were on my property."

"Please, I just got lost because of my navi."

"Your navi got you lost? He's not very good is he."

"Wha- say that again you..."

Saito had hit the mute button before his curses could be heard. Unfortunately Glyde still had heard them.

"He's very rude isn't he?"

"He is, but he saved my life and he is my best friend."

"Really? Interesting. Ok how about this. If you beat me in a net battle I will let you go without any punishment. Let's see how well you can control him."

"Ummmm... ok."

Yaito snapped her fingers and a huge arena came down.

"A top of the line life-sized battle arena."

Both Saito and Lan were speechless.

"Ok, Plug-in, Lan.EXE, Transmission!" 

"Plug-in, Glyde, Transmission!"

Both appeared. "You will regret for insulting Yatio-sama." said Glyde.

"We'll see."

"Go Glyde, Paladin-sword!" A huge beam of light came toward Lan. 

"Barrier-slot-in!" Lan felt nothing.

He grinned "Oh you can net battle now!"

"Yeup, practiced all night. I won't repeat the same mistake twice!" 

"Good to know, stopping that train hurt like hell." 

Saito laughed. He felt alive. He loved this feeling. "Sword slot-in!"

Lan took charge with the sword and ran at Glyde. Glyde lifted his sword and... "area-steal slot-in" Lan disappeared.

"Behind you, pansy!" Lan slashed and hit Glyde straight on.

GLYDE LOGGING OUT 

"Yesssssssssssssss" Both boys pumped their fists in the air.

"Humph, well I am true to my word you can go." 

"Thanks. Oh Yaito you are a good net battler. This was good practice. I needed to know I could help Lan."

Yaito looked into Saito's smiling face and blushed "You're welcome." she said softly.

"Yes you are, you have good timing, but you might want to use a stronger navi." Said Lan.

"Excuse me!" A voice came from her PET.

Yaito giggled. "He isn't a battle navi, but I have rare chips so I didn't expect you two to fight so well since you argue so much. Kinda like brothers." 

"Brothers.. ha ha ha." Laughed Lan nervously. 

"Well see you tomorrow, Yaito-chan."

"Ok, see ya!." 'chan, I like it.' she thought.

As Saito walked home he didn't notice the stoplights blink ominously.

Saito smiled happily as he skated to school. Since the net battle with Yaito Lan had seemed to be giving his operator a little more respect. A little being the keyword in that sentence. Lan had been nice enough to actually wake Saito up on time!

"Saito-kun, why aren't you walking with Meiru-chan today?" Lan asked. "She is your girlfriend after all..."

"Wha-?" the human tripped over his skates and hit the side walk.

"HAHAHAHA!" Lan laughed loudly.

"Th-That's not funny! And Meiru-chan is just a friend, okay?" Saito growled.

"Then why are you blushing so much?"

"..." Saito turned away from Lan and turned a deeper shade of red. Lan said nothing, but he smirked. He knew when he was right.

"You're one to talk! What about Roll?" the operator grumbled. Now it was the navi's turn to blush.

"I don't know what you are talking about..." he turned away. "I'm going ahead to the school to see if old Guts-for-brains wants to fight, see ya!" The navi quickly warped out.

"He was in quite a hurry..." Saito smiled knowingly. 

The school day went by uneventfully. Mariko-sensei gave her usual lectures, Yaito finished her work first, Saito second, and Dekao didn't even get past question five. In the cyber world, Lan had a hay-day beating the heck out of Gutsman. The barbaric navi just kept coming back for more and Roll kept score of their battles. 

"The ending score today is, Lan 53 wins Gutsman 0," the pink navi announced.

"Me get you next time!" Gutsman challenged.

"Miracles do happen..." Lan shrugged.

"Lan, its time to go!" Saito called. 

"Okay," the blue navi warped to his PET. The human started to make his way out of the class room and was about to say good bye to Meiru and Yaito when Lan piped up.

"Meiru-chan! You want Saito-kun to walk you home?" Saito turned several shades of red when he realized what his navi was up to.

"Lan...!" 

"I'm sorry, but I have to stay behind today to clean the board," Meiru said calmly. "Maybe tomorrow?"

"It's a date!" Lan announced. Meiru giggled as Saito almost fell over from embarrassment.

"Hikari! I thought I told you to stay away from my Meiru-chan!" Dekao hissed and chased the smaller boy out of the class room with Lan flinging insults all the way.

"I can't believe you said that!" Saito groaned. 

"You know you want to," Lan seemed very pleased with himself. If Meiru walked with Saito then that meant that Roll would be there too. He grinned even more. Oh, the look on Gutsman's face would be priceless! Not to mention Deako's! And spending time with Roll was another plus.

The loud squeal of tires and a crashing noise snapped him out of his thoughts.

"What was that?" he gasped.

"I don't know! It sounds like there was a car accident..." the younger boy stated nervously.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Lets go check it out!" Saito agreed with his navi and headed towards the street. The wreck didn't seem very serious. But something very disturbing caught Saito's attention.

"Something is wrong with the traffic lights!" he announced.

"What makes you say that?"

"All of them are red! And nobody is moving!"

"Hey, this is serious! If nobody can move then we can't get home! Plug me in so I can fix it." Saito nodded.

"Plug-in, Lan.EXE, transmission!" 

Lan wasted no time in deleting all the viruses that stood in his way. He wasn't very surprised to see them there but what did surprise him was a brown and gold navi laying in the middle of the area.

"Glyde!" the blue navi quickly ran to the other's aid. "Hey! What happened? Are you okay?" 

"Ungh...L-Lan...watch out for the ball..." Glyde chocked out.

"Ball? What the hell are you--AAAAAAGH!" Lan cried out when something slammed into his back.

"LAN?" Saito gasped. Worry sprang into his mind and he started to panic.

_No. Calm down! Lan needs you. You have to stay calm! You can do this..._ The operator took a deep breath and tried to relax.

"Ow..." the blue navi picked himself off the ground slowly. "What hit me?" 

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" a psychotic voice barked with delight. Lan was starting to regret asking. "I'm Coloredman, and I'm going to delete you now!" the clown-like navi announced cheerfully.

"Bring it on Bozzo!" Lan challenged. The odd navi released his ball but it wasn't heading for him... 

"Ah! Glyde!" Lan quickly scooped up the bigger navi and leapt to safety seconds before the ball smashed into the ground. "Damn you, you coward!" He quickly formed his buster and shot at the sphere of death only to watch his blasts have no effect on it.

"Uh-oh..." Lan paled. "Saito-kun, I need a little help here!"

"I'm on my way to the traffic station! Just hold on!" his operator responded.

"Easy for you to say...Woah!" Lan grabbed Glyde and moved out of the ball's path again. "Saito-kun hurry!" 

Saito quickly skated down the side walk. If he didn't hurry, Lan would be in serious trouble... And there was no way he would let Lan get hurt like he did during the train incident.

"Hey, kid! Get off the car!" a voice yelled loudly.

"Huh?" Saito turned to see Yaito standing on top of her limo looking very nervous and miserable. "Yaito-chan! What are you doing?" 

"S-Saito!" she gasped.

"That is dangerous! Get back inside your car!" he yelled. 

"...Saito...I-I-I...!" the small girl started to jump from car top to car top towards him. "I have to go to the bathroom right NOW!" she jumped into his arms almost crying. 

"O-Oh...!"


	3. Chapter 3

Lan and Glyde dodged another blow from Coloredman. They had heard the entire exchange between Saito and Yaito. Lan would of laughed if he wasn't busy trying to stay alive.

"Yaito-sama, the nearest restroom would be at the traffic station!" Glyde announced.

"Saito-kun, you better move it...!" Lan warned then fired a few more rounds of plasma at the crazy navi.

"Heeheehee!" Coloredman cackled. "I can make things go boom too! See!" He raised his hands and sent waves of fire towards the two navi's. 

"AAAAAAHHH!" both screamed in pain. 

Saito quickly raced into the station without even stopping to take off his skates.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" a guard stood in his way.

"I'm very sorry, but this is an emergency!" the boy gasped.

"Emergency or not, there is no rollerblading in the building, and incase you didn't know, we have a little crisis on our hands. No visitors!" the man glared.

"But-"

"Listen up you part-time piece of trash!" Yaito snarled. "My father owns this building, and if you don't get out of my way right now, I'll make sure you _NEVER_ work in this country again! _Do I make myself clear?"_

"Y-Yes, Miss Ayano..." the guard slunk back to his post.

"Yaito-chan...?" Saito started dumbly.

"Hello? I've got to pee here! MOVE!" she yelled in his ear. Saito needed no second bidding and was off like a flash towards the bathrooms.

"Here they are!" he announced triumphantly. Yaito hopped off his back and ran into the bathroom as fast as possible.

"Thanks!" 

"Phew...OH, LAN!" Saito quickly plugged into the nearest appliance. "Lan, are you okay?"

"I will be now," Lan smirked. "Lets give this freak the beating of a lifetime!"

"Right! Attach battle chip, sword! Slot-in!" Lan felt his hand morph into the sword and he cut the giant bouncy ball of doom in half then wasted no time in charging Coloredman.

Coloredman threw some of his little mini-me's toward the blue warrior, but they were all treated with the same respect as the ball.

"EEEEEK!" the clown screeched with fear.

**Coloredman, logging out**

Lan tripped over himself when his sword cut threw the empty space that the clown had occupied a moment earlier. "Aw, crap! I'm getting tired of them always getting away..." 

Saito sighed with relief.

_We did it..._

"Saito..." Yiato walked up to him. "Thank you for helping me..."

"No problem!" Saito grinned. 

The next day at school, everyone was talking about the strange traffic light incident and how it was mysteriously resolved. 

"Hey, Saito-kun! School's almost over! Are you ready for your date with Meiru-chan?" Lan asked slyly.

"Lan, it is not a date! And I'm sure she was just joking..." Saito grumbled.

"Saito-kun, are you ready to walk me home?" Meiru asked as she walked up towards him. The young boy turned several shades of red.

"O-Okay..."

Roll and Lan giggled in their PET's as their operators decided to take the long way home.

Lan shifted and sighed contently in his rest cycle. Sleeping was one of the things that he enjoyed most, next to net battles of course. A small grin spread over his face as he continued to dream.

"Roll-chan..." he muttered. "I can't eat anymore..."

"Net navis don't eat, silly!" a familiar voice giggled.

"...Oh yeah...Huh?" the navi blinked and slowly regained his senses. 

"You were talking in your sleep," Saito teased. "Dreaming about Roll?"

"What are you doing up?" Lan blushed and tried to change the subject. "It's too early!"

"No it isn't, its 7:00! You over slept," the human sighed. "Good thing I set my alarm clock..." The blue navi snorted with indignation. That alarm clock of Saito's would soon meet its maker.

"Saito! Time for breakfast!" Haruka called from the kitchen.

"Coming!" Saito turned back to his still pouting navi. "What? Don't tell me you're mad..."

"Why would I be mad? You only replaced me with some cheep clock," Lan humphed and looked away. 

"Oh, come on. You're over reacting," the young boy sighed and made his way to breakfast. "I wouldn't have to use it if you would wake me up on time!"

"Saito, I think that you should get your navi checked," Haruka said as she placed breakfast in front of her son. "I think he might be glitched or something..."

"Papa programmed him, Mama," Saito frowned.

"It isn't that I don't trust Yuuichiro-san, it's just that Lan is... well... Odd for a navi," she shifted uncomfortably with the term. Lan was mentally debating whether he should be offended.

"I know his a little different, but he really is a great navi and I wouldn't want him any other way," the little human smiled warmly. "Don't worry, Mama, you can trust Lan!"

"Well... If you're sure..." Haruka didn't seem very convinced but decided to drop the subject. "Oh, look at the time! You better hurry on to school!"

"Right," Saito downed the rest of his cereal. "Bye, Mama! Love you!"

"Love you, too, hun!" Haruka waved as she watched her son rush out the door. 

"Hey, you're on time!" Yaito smirked. "I'm surprised." Saito rubbed the back of his head nervously. 

"Well, you know..." he muttered.

"I can't believe that blue boy actually woke you up..." Dekao muttered.

"Actually he didn't. I used an alarm clock!" 

"Now it makes sense..."

"What is that supposed to mean, flubber gut?" Lan snarled. He was still a little touchy about the alarm clock thing.

"That you are totally useless!" Dekao growled and both started to fling insults at each other that would put a drunk sailor to shame.

"Ugh! You two are so immature!" Yaito sniffed.

"What atrocious manners!" Glyde gasped and blushed. "And in front of a lady like Yaito-sama, no less!"

"Dekao! Stop tormenting poor Lan!" Meiru scolded the bigger boy.

"I'm sorry, Meiru-chan..." Dekao bowed his head then glared at the blue navi. "We finish this later...!"

"Fine with me," Lan glared.

"Anyway!" Yaito announced, "There is something I want to show you all!" 

"What is it?" Meiru asked politely.

"Its something really cool! Meet me at my house after school," she smirked.

"Okay, class! Get to your seats!" Mariko said loudly over the bustle of the room.

"Right!" Saito nodded to Yaito. "Meet you after school!"

"Class, today we have a speaker! Please pay attention and greet Mr. Higure!" she nodded to a tall skinny man with thick glasses and clothes that fit the criteria for the classic computer nerd.

"Boy, he's even more of a dork than you, Saito-kun!" Lan whispered. 

"Hush...!" Saito muttered As he tried to pay attention to the speaker's rant on security systems and battle chips... Wait, battle chips? Saito blinked with surprise when Mr. Higure started to show his passion for battle chips. 

"Higure-sensei?" Meiru raised her hand. "Aren't you getting a little off topic?"

"Oh, er, yes..." the skinny man muttered. Lan groaned in his PET. It was going to be a long school day... 

"Saito-kun, do you remember where Yaito's house is?" Lan asked from his PET.

"It should be around here somewhere..." Saito muttered. "Ah, there it is!" he cheered when he saw the gigantic mansion.

"It's bigger than I remembered," Lan commented.

"Saito! Saito, over here!" Meiru called from a small golf cart like vehicle. 

"What's all this for?" he asked.

"The surprise is hidden in my back yard. Do you really expect _me_ to walk all that distance!" Yaito sniffed.

"Is it really that big?" Saito blinked curiously.

"It is only 20 acres in all... But the club house is only about... 30 yards or so into the property," Glyde offered.

"O-Oh..." Saito and Meiru sweatdropped.

"Hey, guys!" Dekao called as he ran up to them. "I'm here! Lets go!" 

"Alright," Yaito nodded to her butler. "You may drive now." The driver nodded and soon they were on their way.

"Th-This is incredible!" Saito gasped as he starred at the giant tree house.

"What is it?" Dekao cocked his head to the side. "Some sort of a big bird house?"

"How rude!" Yaito glared at him. "This is a secret club house for net battling."

"Net battling?" Lan perked up.

"Yuppers!" the rich girl smirked at the little navi. "Check it out!"

Everyone followed the eight year old into the building. It had a kitchen, a TV, and a table with chairs. Saito had seen cabins smaller than this! 

"Um, what's so special about all this? I don't see anywhere to plug in..." the biggest of the children muttered, obviously disappointed.

"Here..." Yaito smirked and pushed one of the buttons on the wall. Everyone gasped when the walls shifted and turned into monitors and other technical do-dads. 

"Wow!" Saito starred in awe. "W-What is it?" 

"It is the most highly advanced network of holographic Netbattling stadiums in the world!" she smiled.

"Awesome!" Dekao cheered. "Lets plug-in! Gutsman, transmission!" 

"Right!" Meiru nodded. "Plug-in, Roll.EXE! Transmission!"

"Lan.EXE, plug-in! Transmission!" Saito followed. 

"Wow... This system is so cool!" Lan cheered as a wave of excitement rushed through him.

"I'll say!" Roll giggled from beside him.

"Where our opponent?" Gutsman grumbled looking around the area. 

Saito blinked at the life size hologram of Lan and the other navi's.

"Woah..." he muttered dumbly.

"I've never seen anything like this before..." Meiru gasped. "Its almost like we could reach out and touch them..."

"Too cool!" Dekao smirked. "I bet battling on this will be awesome!" 

"Huh?" Lan turned to see that Glyde had arrived in the area.

"Greetings, everyone! You will be battling with me today," he smiled. Lan nodded, his mind traveled back to his fight with the butler type navi.

Glyde and Yaito were not to be underestimated. Even though they were both a little immature when it came to using their battle chips, they could give him and Saito a little run for their money.

"Are you sure, Glyde? You aren't a battle type..." Roll seemed concerned about her friend's safety.

"I will be fine, I assure you!" he gave her an award winning grin.

"Me smash you!" Gutsman announced.

"Lets show 'em Gutsman!" Dekao cheered.

Gutsman nodded then attacked wildly. Glyde and Yaito were able to silence the two barbarians with a well placed rare battle chip or two.

"No fair!" Dekao whined.

"You are just jealous that you don't have any rare chips yourself!" Yaito smirked. "Who's next?"

"I guess that would be us, huh, Lan?" Saito said shyly.

"You bet! Lets cream him like we did last time!" Lan cheered.

"We underestimated you last time," Yaito announced. "That won't happen again!"

"Whatever! Lets---Huh!" Lan gasped then whirled around. "What the..."

"Is something wrong?" Saito asked, confused by Lan's behavior. 

"I... thought I saw something..." the navi said distantly. "Someone else is in here..."

"That can't be! This network has the best security system money can buy," Yaito snorted.

"..." Lan shook his head to clear it. "R-Right... Must be my imagination..."

Saito frowned. What ever it was, it seemed to of really upset Lan. The boy had a very bad feeling about all this...

He skated to the school newspaper meeting amazed that Lan had woken him up that morning. He smiled as he realized how hard he was trying. It looked like he did care about what people said about him. Of course he would never let anyone know that.

"Why are you so quiet?" said a voice from his PET.

"I'm just thinking."

"Oh." 

Saito was taken aback, he expected some cheeky remark. Lan had been awfully subdued since yesterday.

"What's wrong?" 

"I don't know. I swear there was a navi there yesterday." 

"Hmmmmmm……" He was so deep in thought that he didn't realize he was lost…..

He ran down the halls and was about to get into the classroom when the door slammed shut.

"Hey, Saito isn't late!" Lan shouted.

Lan picked himself up and looked into the door. "I think they are locked in." he said.

He plugged in Lan and he went inside where the battle was starting. "Glyde!" he said as he saw the Navi fly through the air. Roll appeared next to him.

"They locked Meiru-chan and the others in the classroom. He's after Yaito-chan's rare chips. They are the prize in the outcome of this battle. But she was forced into it."

He looked at the strange navi. "That's low." He said. And rushed at him, and ran into a wall.

"There is a fire wall." Said Roll.

"Can you find the password?" Lan asked.

She nodded and put her antenna into the firewall. Then some viruses came and started to attack. Lan jumped behind her and started to blast them.

"Thanks Lan!"

"No problem."

"Ok D-O-V-E."

"Oh, the number of Dove's we have on the school grounds." Said Mariko-sensei.

"And that number would be………" said Yaito.

"I don't remember."

Everyone face faulted.

"I'll go count them!" said Saito from the door.

"Ok!" said Lan. "Good luck."

Saito flew down the halls and out towards the green house area where they kept the doves. He could hear their soft coos already. Once he rounded into the garden he spotted them and started to count in his head. 

_1...2...3...4...Huh? Didn't I already count that--Ahh! They're moving!_ Saito groaned. This might be harder than he thought... 

Lan continued to fire away at all the viruses who were trying to halt their efforts. They were really starting to get on his nerves! Why did there have to be so many? And to make things worse, Numberman kept mouthing him off.

"Hahahaha! Do you really think your operator will be able to get all the passwords in time? You are nothing more than an annoyance!" the light bulb headed psycho snickered.

"Hmph! You're one to talk!" Lan sneered. "Why can't you WWW weirdoes just back off?" 

"W-WWW? How dare you!" Numberman sputtered with indignance. "I'll have you know that I would never work for such an insignificant organization."

"You don't work for WWW?" Roll asked. Lan frowned with confusion but didn't say anything, he was too busy shooting down the viruses.

"Of course not!"

"He's working alone? But who would do something like this...?" Meiru said over the PET's link.

"Hey! Lan, there are 43 doves!" Saito announced.

"That's great, Saito-kun, but right now we're trying to figure out who Numberman's operator is," Lan said as Roll keyed in the number. 

"Oh...?" Saito frowned thoughtfully. "Well...Roll said that he is after rare chips, right?"

"Uh-huh." 

"And he seems to know a lot about the security system?" 

"Looks that way..."

"What about that speaker we had earlier? He fits the bill, don't you think?"

"I don't know, I wasn't listening..." Lan muttered. Saito sighed, he should of known...

"Uh-oh! They know who we are!" Numberman gasped.

"Too bad..." the battle chip otaku's face appeared on the monitor of the class room.

"Higure!" everyone in the class room gasped.

"How could you?" Mariko starred in disbelief.

"Very easily infact... Numberman! Finish this quick before they get the next code!" the crazy teacher ordered.

"Right!" the evil navi released another assault against the weakened Glyde, causing the poor navi to scream in pain.

"No!" Lan gasped. "Oohh... When I get my hands on you I'll pay that back ten times worse than anything you could ever come up with!"

"Saito, please hurry!" Yaito sobbed.

"R-Right..." the brunette nodded. "Roll, what is the next code?" 

"Searching..." Roll announced. "T-E-N-N..." 

"Tennis! It is the number of different colors of rackets used by the tennis team!" Mariko cheered.

"You are the coach aren't you?" Meiru asked, "You should know this..."

"Should know, and DO know are two very different things..." the young teacher sweatdropped. "I forgot..." The children didn't bother to repress their collective groans.

"Saito-kun, move!" Lan ordered. 

"Right!" Saito tore off across the school grounds towards the gym.

Lan clenched his teeth when he heard another cry of pain escape from Glyde. Yaito and the other kids tried to urge him to hold on. The blue navi decided to take out his frustration on the next swarm of viruses that were heading their way. 

The gym was full of all kinds of rooms. Some were for soccer, some for baseball, and there were even some for basketball or football. But that wasn't what Saito was looking for. He needed tennis.

Saito skimmed the door's signs carefully until he came to the desired room. He quickly threw open the door and found... Nothing! The boy tried to repress the feeling of doom. Surely he had just misread the sign?

He backtracked and reread it. In big bold letters it stated: TENNIS RACKETS. But why were there no rackets?

"What are you doing in there?" a girl asked from the doorway.

"Um... I'm looking for the tennis rackets. Mariko-sensei wants to know how many there are," he half lied. There was no need to worry them about the crises. They might just cause more trouble or get in the way.

"Oh, they were taken out yesterday. We are getting some new ones because all the old ones weren't much good anymore," the girl said. "I thought she knew?"

"O-Oh..." Saito felt his heart drop into his stomach. What were they going to do now? He quietly thanked the girl then rushed out of the gym. "Lan! Did you hear that?"

"Yes..." Lan's voice was grave and hinted of anger. "There has to be a way... We can't give up now!"

"I know that, but what do we do?" 

"Well... They had to get rid of the old rackets so those must be in the dumpster, right?" Saito did not like where his navi was going with this, but nodded. "Then get ready to get dirty!"

Saito groaned. This was going to be a long day...

"There are exactly 23 tennis rackets!" Said Saito into the PET.

"Did you get that Roll-chan?" asked Lan.

"2-3...ok!" the second firewall disappeared.

Lan continued to blast the viri out of the air as Roll got the last bit on information. "This is encoded in a different language F-L-O-W-E-R"

"I know! Flower, hana! How many potted flowers there are in the school garden."

"Well, at least it's the potted ones." said Saito under his breath.

"Ha ha ha! You can't beat me!" said Numberman.

"Those chips will be ours!" said Higure.

"Saito-kun, where are you?" said Lan, although no one could hear him.

"444, 445, 446" a ball came out of nowhere and hit him on the head. "Itatatatata."

"Are you ok!" 

"Yeah, I think so. Thank you for your concern. Now where was I?" Saito blanched as he tried to remember the number he was at. "443, no, 446! Ahhhhh!"

"There are exactly 557 potted plants in the garden. I should know, I planted them all." Said a voice behind Saito.

"Oh, Saloma-san. Thank-you so much." he did a little bow and speed off.

"Good luck, Saito-kun." she said quietly.

"Lan, did you get that."

"Yeup, Roll-chan is putting it in the computer now."

"Too late!" said Numberman as he threw three dice. "Triple sixes, my best score ever!" As the explosions ensued there was a ton of smoke. When it cleared the unconscious form of Glyde was being supported by Lan and Roll.

"WHAT?"

"Sword, battle-chip, slot in!" said Saito.

Lan took the sword and pursued the fleeing Numberman. He caught him and threw him to the ground.

"I'm sorry, please don't delete me!"

"I won't if you release the locks on the school."

"Done." 

The doors opened and everyone gave a sigh of relief.

"I'm sorry."

Higure was on the ground begging for forgiveness.

"Hmph," said Mariko "I do not look kindly upon anyone who puts my students in danger." 

"I just wanted the rare chip! Children do not take care of them like I would."

"If you truly think that, then what did you do when you got your first chip. Did you treat it, 'well' in your standards, or did you just enjoy the fact that you had one."

"I-I... I'M SORRY!"

"Hurry up! Your late!" said Lan.

"I know, I know... oof!" Saito ran into Higure.

"Ahhhh, my chips, are they scratched? If you are...oh, Saito-kun. Good morning."

"Good morning! Higure-sensei!"

"Ah no sensei. I am now a businessman, with my own chip shop." 

"Ohhhhh," said the boys together.

"Ahh, I'm late!" said Saito looking at his watch. He sped off to the school.

"Sorry I'm late!" He said. 

The room was empty and quiet except for Lan's roaring laughter.

"What did you do that for!" said Saito. 

"Oh, that was so worth it!" said Lan gasping for breath. "You totally fell for it! It's Sunday!"


	4. Chapter 4

It was a peaceful morning, like usual at the Hikari residence. A peaceful school morning as well.

The monitor on Lan's PET flickered to life. The little navi checked his internal clock.

_6:57_

A proud grin ran across his face. He was actually going to be able to wake his operator on time today! He waited impatiently as the clock ticked closer to seven. Saito would be so pleased that he wasn't going to be late!  
At 6:59 he decided it was close enough. He pulled in a breath to sound the wake up call...

BRRRIIIINGGG! BRING! BRING! BRING!

"Ahhhh!" Lan screamed and jumped. His eyes darted around the room for the cause of the sound. "W-What? Saito-kun, get up! I think the house is on fire!" 

"Heheh, relax, Lan..." Saito grinned sleepily at his navi. He stood up and took hold of a strange clock that Lan had never seen before. There was an audible click and the noise stopped. Saito held the device up so that the rather freaked out warrior could get a better look.

"This is a new alarm clock. Mama gave it to me."

"Why?"

"To wake me up in the morning."

"But, isn't that what I'm supposed to do?" Lan asked slowly.

"Well, Mama didn't think you were doing a good job so she got me this instead..." Saito trailed off when he saw the hurt look on the navi's face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing..." Lan grumbled bitterly and eyed his latest rival. Somehow, he had to find a way to destroy that job-stealing clock...

"Are you sure?" the human was starting to get worried.

"Yes. But I'm not speaking to you for the rest of the day!" Lan stuck his tongue out at his operator then disappeared from the monitor, leaving Saito very lost and confused. 

"Hey, Saito!" Dekao yelled and tried to catch up with the smaller boy. Saito was more than happy to have some company. He had gotten so used to arguing with Lan on the way to school that silence made him feel very lonely. Even Dekao was a welcome companion.

"How about a net battle after school?" he asked.

"Sorry, but Lan's really mad at me and I don't think he'll fight..."

"Huh? I swear, you have the weirdest navi! He should do what YOU tell him and not the other way around. If I didn't know better, I'd say he was the operator and you were the navi!" Dekao laughed.

"Heh. You know how it is," Saito started to say something else when his face suddenly met the sidewalk. "Ow!"

"Sorry!" a boy called as he ran by. Saito only got a glimpse of him before he turned a corner. The boy had dark brown hair and lavender gray eyes. He wore a yellow shirt and shorts.

"What was his problem?" Dekao grumbled then noticed something on the ground. "He dropped something..."

"It's a key card..." Saito mused as he fingered the object. "I think it's from the water company."

"Cool! Finders keepers!" the larger boy chuckled.

"Dekao, it is probably important to him. We should return it."

"Ah, you're no fun." 

The rest of the school day had been pretty uneventful. Saito almost whished something bad had happened so that Lan would have to talk to him. The silence was torture. He stared sadly at his PET. Homework was impossible with his mind so divided.

He stood up from his desk and settled himself in front of the monitor.

"Lan, are you still mad at me?"

Silence.

"I'm really sorry! I wish you would tell me what was wrong..." he took the terminal off the desk and held it so that he could search the screen better.

Lan didn't appear nor did he speak. With a defeated sigh Saito placed the device back on it's shelf and walked out of the room. A nice hot shower would make him feel better. 

Lan had been listening the whole time. Part of him wanted to make up with Saito, but his pride wouldn't let him.

_This is silly... It was his mom that gave it to him... ___

_That didn't mean he had to use it! ___

_But... I wasn't doing a good job anyway! He only did what he felt would be best. ___

_...I still don't like it. ___

_He didn't mean too..._

"It's still his fault..." Lan muttered to himself darkly and pulled his legs to his chest. "Either that thing goes, or I do!"

_Who are you kidding? You wouldn't leave! You'd miss him!_

"Ooooh!" the navi growled angrily as he found himself losing in the struggle with his conscience. "Damn it! Fine!"

_That's better..._

"... I'll consider letting him apologize." 

_That isn't!_

"AHHHHHHHHH!" a scream interrupted Lan's little mental battle with himself.

"Saito-kun!" he gasped and appeared on the monitor. Saito was no where in sight. Lan frowned then plugged himself into the home's ventilation system. He followed the circuitry until he came to the phone connected in the kitchen. Using the monitor on the phone, he looked out to see Saito in a bath towel complaining to his mom.

"...This is different..." Lan muttered and quirked an eyebrow.

"Mom!" Saito whined. "The shower stopped working!"

"I know..." Haruka pointed to the sink. "All the water has stopped. There must be a shortage. You'll just have to go get some water tomorrow."

"Okay... But what about the soap?" He pointed to his head, which was covered in shampoo. "How do I get it out?"

Lan was very amused for the next ten minutes as Haruka tried to remove the substance from her son's hair with a jar of pickle juice. Saito, however, failed to see the humor in the situation.

"Hahahaha!" Lan was doubled over in hysterics.

"S...Shut up, Lan!" Saito growled. Suddenly it occurred to him that Lan was speaking...sort of. He pulled away from his mother and her smelly soap remover and caught sight of the little warrior.

"T-This...is...PRICELESS! Ahahahaha!" Totally forgetting his vow of silence, the navi continued to poke fun at his unfortunate operator. But despite the highly embarrassing situation, Saito felt better than ever.

After Saito had gotten the gunk out of his hair he retuned upstairs where Lan was still laughing quietly to himself.

"So, are you talking to me again?" he asked

"Yeah, seeing you like that has put me in a much better mood. Just let me wake you up tomorrow?" he asked

Saito thought it over "Fine, but if you miss then I will put back on the alarm clock."

"YAY!" Lan started to dance a little jig

'He's so easy to amuse' thought Saito smiling. "I'm going to go over Yaito's house now to see if she can spare some water."

Lan smiled "Can I come?"

"Yeah, I guess..."

"Har, har, har"

"Thank you sooooo much Yaito" said Meiru

"No problem. We have a year's supply of water in reserve in case of emergencies."

Saito stayed and chatted awhile but soon left due to Lan starting a argument with Deako,

As Saito lugged the big water case home he grumbled at Lan.

"I can't believe you called him that."

"What, he is a Lard-boy is he not?"

"Well..."

"See! You think so too!"

"H-he's big boned!"

Lan smirked "Yeah, sure."

"Here mom!" Saito came in and dropped the big water container in front of her.

"Oh, Saito thanks so much!" She gave him a hug.

"Mooom..." Saito said as he was being smothered.

Lan didn't say anything.

"You know you really shouldn't take her for granted." said Lan.

"What?" Saito looked up from his homework.

"She's your mom. Her hugs must mean a lot." 

"Yeah..." said Saito slowly

"So when she hugs you, don't complain." said Lan

"O...kay..." 

Later that night Saito lied in bed wondering what had made Lan act so weird.

Lan sat in the PC thinking.

'I wish I could hug mom...'

Lan sighed and went into sleep mode 

Lan woke up

"Oh no!" he looked around and have a sigh of relief. The clock said 6:59

6:59 

6:59

6:59

7:00

Lan took a deep breath "HEY SAITO! WAKE UP!"

The loud crash and Lan's giggles that followed could be heard throughout the neighborhood.

"Saito! Saito!" Haruka ran up the stairs and knocked on the door. The boy quickly slipped on his shirt then answered.

"What is it?" 

"School has been cancelled due to the water shortage!" 

"The hell?" Lan practically shrieked with rage. "I worked very hard to wake Saito-kun up on time, and they call off school?"

"Looks that way..." Saito chuckled as his net navi face faulted.

"I'll start breakfast," his mother announced.

"Be down in a sec!" The human boy continued to fully dress himself then brushed a hand through his chestnut brown hair, which sprung back into its messy disposition. He frowned and reached for his bandanna only to find it gone. "Lan, have you seen my bandanna?"

"No... Oh, wait! Your mom took it to be washed, remember?" Lan mentally patted himself on the back for knowing that.

"Right... Mama! Are you done washing my bandanna?" Saito yelled.

"Saito, I'm sorry but it got torn up in the washer. It was in when the water went out so it just fell apart..." This time it was his turn to face fault.

"Mama! Dad gave me that!" he cried. 

"I'm really sorry, you'll just have to go without it." 

"Not your day, eh, Saito-kun?" Lan chuckled. 

"Guess not..." the human stood up and pouted. His navi friend sighed, displeased at Saito's unhappiness.

"...Hey! Why don't I go see what's up with the water plant? It's all their fault that this is happening, and I want an apology!"

"We don't have the security clearance to get into the mainframe..." 

"Do we know someone that does?" Saito thought about this for a moment then his eyes brightened up.

"Yaito-chan might! Lets go ask her!" he grinned then ran out the door. 

"Saito, what about breakfast?" his mother gasped when he sped through the kitchen. The boy did a 180 and grabbed a piece of toast before he was out the door again. "And no good bye for me?" she pouted.

Saito always said good bye and ate his breakfast... Or at least he used to before Lan came... 

"That navi is a bad influence..." 

"You want what?" Yaito asked as she sat up in her chair.

"Could you have Glyde look at the water plant's systems, please?" Saito asked again.

"Well... Okay! No problem," she grinned. "But lets wait until Meiru and Dekao get here..."

"Huh? Why are they coming?" Saito gave her a funny look.

"I invited you all over for tea, didn't you get my e-mail?" the blonde frowned and turned her attention to Lan. "Don't tell me you lost it!" 

"Ah... Oops?" Lan sweatdropped. He didn't receive any mail, but it was probably his fault.

"Lan..." Saito groaned. "You're just lucky that we happened to be coming over!"

"Sorry..."

"Oh brother!" Yaito glared at them both. 

It was about twenty more minutes before Meiru and Dekao arrived at the clubhouse and were informed about their latest mission. Glyde awaited orders from his operator inside the computer. 

"So... We are going to fix the water systems?" Meiru asked.

"Only if we have to. Glyde, you ready?" the eight year old turned to her navi.

"I'm now contacting the water plant's system... Attempting to breach fire wall... I'm in!" A short minute later their was an audible gasp. "Yaito-sama! The whole place is covered in ice and... YAAAAAAAHH!" The connection was cut.

"G-Glyde? Glyde!" Yaito called her navi desperately. "Answer!" 

"I wonder what happened to him?" Meiru turned to Saito.

"I don't know... We should go check it out..." the brunette held up his PET. "What do you say?"

"I'm ready!" Lan nodded and had a very determined look on his face. "When we get there, plug me in and I'll save Glyde." 

"Everyone, sit down!" Yaito ordered. They gave her a confused look but did as they were told. The blonde picked up some sort of device and pressed a few buttons. "Gate three, open!" Seat belts snapped around their wastes.

Next thing any of them knew, they were being hurtled down some sort of elevator at top speed.

"Ahhhhhhhh!" the children screamed. It was then that Saito was reminded why he hated roller coasters. The ride suddenly came to a halt.

"That was so cool!" Dekao gasped. Saito nearly threw his cookies then and there. As if on cue, the chairs flew to the side and where lifted up then into an automobile. When the chairs clicked into place, they heard Yaito yell at the driver.

"To the water plant!" she announced. 

"Yes, Yaito-sama!" As if the roller coaster ride wasn't bad enough, Saito was introduced to the power and speed of a jet-propelled take off.

"I don't feel so good..." he groaned as he slowly became used to the breakneck speed.

"Oh, suck it up," Lan snorted. "We're almost there!"

True to Lan's word they were soon parked in front of the water plant. The rescue party quickly filled out and into the building. People were everywhere! Luckily for them, the crowd was keeping the workers so busy that they could easily sneak past and down an elevator.

"That was pretty easy..." Dekao noted. But when the doors opened they were met with unwanted company. A security robot stood directly in their path. "Ah! Run!"

"Wait!" Meiru ordered. "It isn't moving..."

"Saito, go check it out!" Yaito pushed him forward.

"W-Why me?" he whimpered.

"Just do it!"

The boy slowly approached the mechanical beast, that reminded him of those half man half horse centaurs that he had heard about. He waved his hand in front of its face.

"You're right, it isn't functional..."

"It shouldn't be," Lan said. "The security system it down so the robot shouldn't be online either."

"I didn't know that..." Saito was a little surprised at his navi's reasoning. Lan wasn't stupid, but he didn't usually comment on such things.

"Yeah, just don't--"

"Tch, stupid thing isn't so scary!" Dekao snorted then gave it a whack on the head for good measure. 

"--Do anything to jar it online...!" Lan covered his face with his hands and gritted his teeth when the robot's "eyes" started to glow and move. "You stupid pig!"

"Dekao!" they all growled and started to run for their lives. Dekao somehow attached himself to the robot's back as it galloped after the other three net battlers. He clutched the beast for dear life, then noticed a suspicious panel on it's back...

"Ahhhhh!" Saito cried when his foot got caught on Yaito's bag, which had become dislodged from her shoulder. His face met the floor. For once Lan didn't laugh but busied his mouth hurling insults and meaningless threats at the security bot who snatched up his operator.

"Let me go! Let go!" the boy kicked and squirmed in his captor's grip then was all to suddenly released and thrown into a wall. "Oww..." 

"Haha! Good work, Gutsman!" Dekao cheered. His PET was connected to the small panel on the robot's back.

"Guts!" Gutsman agreed. Saito rubbed his head as he moved to his feet. A plug in port on the wall caught his eye.

"Plug-in, Lan.EXE. Transmission!" 

The blue warrior soon found himself on a plain of ice. 

"Wow... This is really bad..." Lan muttered then took a few steps forward to try and get a better look at his surroundings. "Hm, I wonder where Glyde is?" He rested his back against a large shard of ice.

"Mrph!" Lan gasped and jumped away from the talking ice cube. His eyes widened with horror when he saw what it was that made the ice talk. 

"G-Glyde?" the brown navi was trapped within the cube. And was frozen from head to toe. "Oh, man... This is awful... Don't worry! I'll get you out!" Lan announced to the Glyde-sicle. "... I just don't know how yet...Saito-kun, a little help?"

"I don't have any battle chips that could get him out of there..." Saito said softly. "Try to find out who is responsible! Maybe if we get to them, we can make them remove the ice!"

"Easier said than done, where am I supposed to find..? Yikes!" Lan yelped and jumped away just in time to avoid becoming an ice sculpture himself. "They just keep finding me... Must be my lucky day."

He turned to face his attacker and found... a cute little Eskimo? That was the last thing he thought could be responsible, but an enemy was an enemy.

"Who are you, and why are you doing this?" 

"Shut up!" the Eskimo snarled and released a wave of ice that surrounded Lan. The blue warrior easily shot down the ice wall. He was momentarily confused when he found that the killer midget was nowhere in sight. "Yaaah!"

Lan glanced up just in time to see a sword heading straight for his head. Pure reflex saved him from a nasty blow and he caught the blade. "You little JERK!" on the last word he threw the Eskimo into one of his own ice pillars. "You'd better turn everything back to normal right now!"

"Oh, Lan!" an obnoxious voice cooed. The blue navi's attention was drawn to his latest foe who was standing next to the Glyde-cicle.

"Coloredman! What the heck?" he gasped. The crazy clown giggled and pointed to Glyde.

"You better be a good boy and not cause anymore trouble, or I'll delete your little friend!"

"Why you...!" Lan trembled with rage. What more could he do? Coloredman would kill Glyde if he did anything.

"Iceman!" Coloredman barked at the Eskimo. Without a word, Iceman stood up and released a blast of ice upon Lan.

"Gaaaaah!" the blue warrior tried to shield himself from the cold but was soon in a similar prison as his butler friend.

He was frozen solid.

Lan glared at Iceman through his prison. If looks could kill...

Coloredman laughed.

"Lan, LAN!" Saito called through the PET.

He only saw the static on the screen. 

"It's no use." he told the others. "No battle chips will be taken."

"Now it's Gutsman's turn!" said Dekao, pulling out the cord.

The robot came to life and glared at the kids.

"DEAKO!" They said as they ran 

Madoi saw Lan frozen.

"Heh, guess he wasn't that strong after all."

The 4 kids ran as fast as they could.

"Dekao, you, are, so, dead!" said Yaito

Saito saw some poles up ahead. "Hurry!" he said.

He watched his friends run past him. Then he knocked over the poles. He saw the robot falter. Then to his horror, smash right through them.

"Ahhhh!" he continued to run and saw his friends up ahead. They were trying vainly to get the door open.

"Saito, use the key card!" said Meiru

"Hai!" Saito quickly swiped the key card through the lock and opened the door. They looked back and saw the robot.

"Hurry!" said Yaito

They pushed through the door and looked it. All collapsed against it sighing. 

"Are you ok?" asked a voice

They all looked up to see a man look down on them.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Wait! Wait! Calm down!" the gasped. Saito still decided to put some distance between himself and the man.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Hikawa and I work here but some strange woman kidnapped me and has threatened my son into sabotaging the water's systems," Hikawa said as he stepped into the light. He was a little older than Saito's dad and had gray hair and black eyes. His arms were bound to his side.

"Hikawa? Are you Tohru-kun's father?" Meiru asked.

"Tohru-kun?" Dekao gave the pink haired girl a funny look.

"He is a student in 5B, I met him once..." she said.

"Yes, he is my son," Hikawa nodded. "He is also the operator of Iceman."

"Iceman is the navi that froze Lan!" Saito gasped. "We have to tell Tohru that his father's alright so he'll fix the net."

_...And Lan..._ he added mentally.

Before any of them could think to say another word, a loud alarm went off.

"W-What's that?" Yaito whimpered and covered her ears. She didn't like the loud noise.

"Oh no...!" Hikawa gasped. "The system has been off for so long that the bacteria is starting to reform! If we don't get it working, then the bacteria will get into the drinking water. Many people could get sick from it and possibly die!"

"That's not good!" Dekao yelped.

"Yaito-chan, Meiru-chan, can you two go try and stop Tohru? Tell him his dad is okay!" Saito ordered politely. Meiru and Yaito started out the door then ran smack into the security robot.

"Eeeek!" the girls squeaked in fear when the robot lifted them up.

"You, boy, there is a slot in the robot's neck," the man informed Saito. "If you slide the card key in it, the robot should deactivate!"

Saito mustered up all his courage and charged the mechanical beast. The creature tried to make a swipe at him but it's hands were full. Yaito didn't enjoy the rough treatment one little bit and decided to inform the robot just who he was dealing with. While the blonde kept the robot distracted, Saito easily slipped the card in and the robot went limp.

"That was close..." Meiru sighed.

"Stupid robot!" Yaito gave the beast a kick just for good measure then turned to her companion. "Come on Meiru-chan, let's get Tohru and go!" 

"Right!" Both girls raced off towards the elevator. 

"You two boys," Hikawa said to Dekao and Saito. "I want you to help me close all the valves in this place so that we can contain the bacteria. We have to move fast!"

"Gotcha!" Dekao and Saito ran down the hall in search of their target.

"Wait! It might help if you untied me first!" the man sweatdropped then chased after them. "You don't even know where you're going! WAIT!" 

Lan's eyes widened when he heard the alarm.

"What the hell...? Hey! I can talk!" he cheered. At least there was one part of his body he could move.

"S-Stop this!" a boy's voice cried. Lan was slightly confused by the disembodied voice but remained quiet. "Iceman, restart the system! People will be hurt if we don't--"

"--It's no use, kid," a female voice this time. "Soon the bacteria will infest the water system and chaos will ensue! I will be praised as a top agent of the WWW!" she cackled. "Now, Coloredman, delete Iceman!" 

"So it is WWW..." Lan snarled. "ICEMAN! Run away! Coloredman is too powerful for you!" Iceman either couldn't hear or just didn't listen and charged the clown-like navi. 

"Heeheehee! This will be fun!" the psycho squealed and threw Iceman to the side. The tiny Eskimo gasped in pain. Lan could only watch in horror as the navi was beaten to a pulp. The blue navi clenched his eyes tight and strained with every fiber in his body to get lose from his icy prison, to no avail.

"Ahhh!" Iceman cried and was thrown to the ground at Coloredman's feet, ball, whatever... The navi snickered and leaned over his prey.

"Time to delete you!" he giggled and raised his hand to seal the Eskimo's fate when the net began to shake and quiver. "W-What? What's going on!"

That momentary hesitation was all the time Iceman needed to sit up and fire some weird yellow beam at Lan. The blue navi squeaked in surprise when he landed hard on the floor. 

"Hey... I can move!" he leapt to his feet and turned to Coloredman. Now that he was free there was only one thing he needed to finish this...

"Battlechip, sword, slot-in!" a familiar voice announced.

Scratch that. Lan was ready to pop that clown's balloon. The blue navi quickly placed himself between Coloredman and the wounded Iceman.

"I have no idea what is going on, but I'll make you pay for it anyway!" he snarled and charged the criminal navi. Coloredman was not ready to retreat quite yet, though and summoned two of his mini-me's. Each of the little Coloredman released an elemental tower at Lan, who was able to grab Iceman and move out of harm's way.

"Lan, I'll send a long range weapon so you don't have to get too close!" Saito announced. Lan nodded and felt the battlechip's power flow into him and form his buster into a spreader gun.

"Spreader Gun!" the navi yelled as the white-hot plasma fell upon the little color clones, deleting both instantly.

"Area Steal! Slot-in!"

Lan vanished from sight and the next thing that Coloredman could remember was a stinging pain in his back then logging out.

"Ha! That'll show you!" Lan cheered and mentally patted himself and Saito on the back for a job well done.

"L-Lan..." a small voice whimpered. The blue navi gasped and ran to Iceman's side.

"Are you okay? You took quite a beating and..." The smaller navi raised a gloved hand to silence him.

"Thank you..." he grinned and logged out.

Lan was quite for a moment. "... You're welcome..." Saito then logged him out as well. 

"That was close..." Saito sighed.

"What was that all about?" Lan gave him a funny look. "And what happened to Glyde?"

"He's fine. And don't worry about what happened. It all turned out for the best..." the human turned his PET so that Lan could see the touching reunion between father and son.

"Dad...!" Tohru, the boy who had knocked Saito down, sobbed into his father's chest. Hikawa just held his little boy close to him and rubbed the boy's back. 

"Everything is fine now..." he whispered.

"That's sweet," Meiru giggled and turned to Saito. "How's your hand feeling?"

"Well, it's..."

"What is she talking about?" Lan asked sharply. Saito flinched. 

"It's nothing, nothing at all..."

"You hurt yourself, didn't you?" the navi gave his operator a very unhappy look.

"It-It wasn't like that... The valves... They were hard to move and..."

"Owwww! I've got blisters on my blisters...!" Dekao whined from the other side of the room.

"Oh, suck it up!" Yaito snapped. "Geeze, the least you could do is try to act tough!"

"Everyone... Thank you!" Tohru bowed to them. "I'm sorry that all this happened because of me..."

"Don't worry about it," Meiru giggled.

"Yeah. Why don't we be friends from now on?" Saito offered.

"I... I would like that..." Tohru blushed and shifted on his feet.

"Well, I think we should all call it a day," Hikawa announced. "I don't know about you kids but I'm beat..."

"Yeah! Lets go home and do something fun to celebrate!" Lan cheered.

"Sorry, Lan, but I've got homework," his operator informed him. The navi fell over on his face from the sudden burst of his bubble. 

"Saito-kun... You dork..." he groaned. Saito just chuckled at his navi friend and waved a fond farewell to the others and skated home.

Lan had been exhausted for the past three days. His programs being frozen had taken a toll on the small navi.

Saito knew this and changed his alarm clock to vibration and set it under his pillow hoping that the navi didn't notice.

If he did he didn't say anything...

Meiru stormed into Saito's room the next day.

"Wake UP! We're gonna be late!" she yelled

Saito's eyes fluttered open. "Late for what?"

"The show! Remember we were gonna go to Yaito-chan's house?"

"Ahhh" Saito sat up in bed and looked at his PET.

"Ah, I see. Your navi didn't wake you up again."

Lan was in the PET fast asleep.

"Meiru-chan, go easy on him. I think something might be wrong he hasn't done much lately. He hasn't even talked to me that much."

Meriu's gaze softened. She walked over to the PC and plugged in Roll.

"Roll please try and wake up Lan. Saito and I will go ahead."

Roll appeared in the computer and nodded. "Ok!"

Lan and Meiru started to skate towards Yaito's house. "Your navi sure is interesting." said Meiru

Saito nodded "But, he's the best friend I ever had. He doesn't see me as a person who is extremely smart or Hikari-hakase's kid. He sees me as me. I can't ask for more."

Meiru thought this over. "Yeah, I think I see what you mean. But I don't think he likes Dekao much." 

"That," Saito laughed "Is the understatement of the year."

Lan was in sleep mode going over the conversation Saito's mom, _his_ mom had gone over with him.

"Lan. I will be frank. You are turning my son into someone I do not like. He is late and he won't talk to me. I don't care how much effort my husband put into you I want you to start acting more like a navi and do what you are supposed to." 

Lan stared at her in shock.

"Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, ma'am." he looked at the floor. 

Haruka gave a weak smile. "I know my son cares for you a lot. But please, I care for my son. I don't want him to leave me so soon."

Lan looked up at her. Then he smiled. "I will try to be a better navi. But I can't help to hope that Saito cares for me as well. It part of my programming."

Haruka nodded. "I am fine with this. I just don't want him to change." 

Lan laughed. "Me neither. He's too much fun to be with when I can joke with him like now."

Now Haruka laughed. "Yes. I can relate to that."

Then their conversation turned to Yuuichihiro.

"So, how is my husband doing."

Lan didn't even think about his words. "Papa? He's fine. Just a little tired. He misses you and Saito alot."

Haruka may not have looked it but she was very perspective. "Papa?" she asked.

Lan's eyes widened. "I-I mean Hikari-hakase..."

Haruka had pieced all of the puzzle in her mind now. "It's ok. Are you by chance the navi my husband was working on with the .BAT file?"

Lan looked at her and sighed.

"Yes, mama."

Haruka's eyes widened. "You... it can't be?"

Lan blushed. "He finished everything. I...really don't remember much but he told me you are my mom and Saito is my twin..."

Haruka's eyes filled with tears. "Netto?"

Lan nodded. "Yeah..."

Haruka gave a smile. "I can't believe it. I-" Her hands flew up to her mouth "I yelled at you like that! I'm so sorry!"

"No, no! I understand what you said. Just don't tell Saito about me yet. Please? I still want to be his friend. I don't think I'm ready to be a brother..." 

Haruka nodded. "This will be our secret. Netto."


	5. Chapter 5

Lan felt someone shaking him. "W-wha?"

"Come on Lan! Time to get up."

Lan sat up and looked at Roll. "How long have you been here?"

"About 10 minutes. Come on! We need to catch up to Saito and Meiru-chan!"

Lan still dazed nodded and followed the pink navi.

Meiru and Saito raced along the sidewalk, trying to avoid the pedestrians in their path. If they didn't hurry they might miss the show that Dekao had told them about.

It was a yoga show. There was a rumor going around that one of the posses could help you during the N1 Grand Prix, a net battle tournament. Saito really didn't know much about it, but Lan seemed very excited about it. If the little Navi had been anymore enthusiastic, he might of started foaming at the mouth or something. Naturally, Saito agreed to participate. How could he say no?

"Woah! Check that out!" a voice squealed from the arcade. Saito cranked his head to try and get a better look. There was a huge crowd outside of the building. All of the people seemed very excited about something. Curiosity rose in his mind.

"Meiru-chan, how is our time?" he asked.

"If we keep up this pace, we might make it in time to see the end of the opening..." the pink haired girl announced. Her male companion frowned, then speeded up a bit.

"Lets hurry then. I don't want to miss a second!" Meiru nodded then gave her scooter an extra kick to match Saito's speed.

He would just have to hear about the arcade at school. 

"Lan, hurry up, would ya?" Roll called back to the blue navi that was lagging behind her.

"Coming..." he muttered and tried to speed up, but that only made him feel even more tired for some reason. Lan decided to slow back down again. For some reason, his systems had been extremely slow. He didn't tell Saito for fear of alarming the boy. But now he was starting to wonder if that had been such a good idea.

"Wha...!" Lan gasped when his vision blurred. He tried to shake it off, but it only got worse. He could no longer move his body, but he didn't comprehend what was going on. Thinking suddenly became very difficult like the thoughts were wearing waited boots while trying to get through the mush and muck that had become his brain.

Roll shrieked when she saw her companion plummet into the data stream below them. She didn't hesitate to dive in and pull him into a nearby server. The pink navi laid Lan out on the ground and clutched his hand tightly. 

"Lan! Lan! Can you hear me! Lan?" 

"R...l...ch..n..." he blinked up at her dazedly then they closed as he went into an emergency system shut down. Roll waited for him to reboot, but nothing happened. Her gloved hand gently rubbed his cheek in a vain effort to revive him somehow. Tears pooled in her green eyes.

"Lan..." Roll shook her head.

_No! I can't wimp out! Lan needs my help. I need to... I need to get him to someone that can help! Dr. Hikari would know what to do!_ A determined look hardened her soft features and she bent down to lift the unconscious blue navi onto her shoulder. 

"Don't worry, everything will be all right..." Whether she was comforting Lan or herself, she wasn't sure. But she quickly logged into the Sci Lab square. 

"We're here!" Meiru announced as she and Saito entered the clubhouse. Yaito and Dekao were both in odd animal positions on the ground.

"Did we miss much?" Saito asked when he noticed that the positions were probably some form of yoga. Dekao grinned at the smaller boy.

"Not much, only all the good stuff!" he snickered. "Did that worthless pile of pixels forget to wake you up again?"

"He's not worthless, Dekao..." Saito pouted. Yaito was on Dekao in a flash, she loved any good reason to get into a fight with him. 

"Coming from someone who has never defeated him in a match, that's pretty funny!" she snarled.

"Like you have!"

"Glyde isn't a battle type anyway. But I'm sure he's more than enough to take down Gutsman _again_" Soon, the argument broke into an all out screaming fit between the two. Saito and Meiru decided to take their seats and watch the show above all the noise that the pair was making. 

Roll gently placed Lan on the floor of the square. Many navis gave them worried and confused looks. Two navis, a regular standard navi that was red and a yellow custom navi, ran over to see what was wrong.

"Please help me!" Roll begged. "My friend, he collapsed and... I don't know what's wrong with him!" 

"Calm down, calm down..." the yellow navi bent down and peeled back one of Lan's eye lids. "Hm... It looks like his systems went off line because of an error in his processor... Might of been caused by his program freezing or stopping..."

"You can tell all that from just looking in his eye?" Roll's eyes widened in amazement.

"Call it a gift. People around here know me as Doc, but there's no time for chit chat, if your friend's processor becomes corrupt, then he might get deleted or worse..." Doc said nonchalantly. This did not settle the pink navi's nerves one little bit.

"Deleted?" she nearly chocked on the word as tears brimmed her eyes. "Please, do something!"

"Geez, I thought I asked you to calm down..." the yellow navi got a mischievous look in his eyes. "He must be pretty important to you. Your boyfriend or something?" 

"What...?" Roll was slightly taken off guard by that question. She blushed deeply. "N-No, just friends... I don't see what this has to do with anything! Lan's in trouble!" 

"Oh, that's right, that's right..." Doc chuckled a bit and rubbed the back of his head. He then turned back to the unconscious blue navi and concentrated on his work. There were a few audible clicking noises. "Good thing that it is just his processor, if it was his programming I don't think there would of been anything I could do!"

"Will he be okay?" Roll whimpered as she fidgeted with her hands to try and relieve some tension.

"Umm... Yup!" The yellow navi stood up and turned to Roll. "That should do it. Now all we have to do is wake him up and see what happens..." Doc calmly leaned over Lan as if to say something, then just as calmly booted the tiny navi in the side. "Wake up boy! You're girl is about to have a melt down if you don't tell her you're okay!"

"Ack!" Lan sputtered and rolled over on his other side. "Owww..." It took him a few moments to realize what was going on. "Hey, you kicked me! I'll kill yo--mrff!" Lan's threats were cut short when Roll glomped onto him.

"Thank goodness you're alright!" she nuzzled into his chest. Whatever negative thoughts he had before, he completely forgot when the warm and fuzzy feeling spread threw his entire body.

"Aw, that's cute!" Doc chuckled. "I guess I better be on my way then..." Without so much as a good-bye, Doc disappeared into the mass of navis that populated the Sci Lab.

"I never thanked him..." Roll muttered, still attached to Lan's arm as if she thought that letting go would make him disappear.

"Thank him for what?" the blue navi gave her a confused look.

"Oh, it's not important anymore..." she giggled. "We better go catch up with Meiru-chan and Saito, they must be worried about us." 

"Huh? Weren't we..." Lan tried to search his memory for how he got here.

"Don't worry about it!" Roll dragged him over to the warp point. "Let's just go to the clubhouse! Dekao and Gutsman are there if you want to net battle them..." That hit the button right on the nose.

"What? That fat freak had better not be picking on Saito-kun!" Lan snarled. "Let's go, Roll-chan!" The pink navi giggled and followed her blue companion to Yaito's server. It was good to have the old Lan back. 

Roll and Lan were instantly greeted by Glyde and Gutsman, but to their surprise, it wasn't a heartfelt greeting at all. 

"P-Please, listen..." Glyde shifted and eyed Lan nervously. "There has been a small accident and, um..." Lan's eyes narrowed.

"Where is Saito-kun?" It was more a demand than a question. The two larger navis exchanged nervous glances.

"Try to stay calm, I guarantee you won't like what you are about to see..." Glyde brought up the monitor. 

Lan's eyes widened and his face was covered with shock. After a few moments he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"What..." he started calmly. "...the hell..." his voice grew a bit louder. "...HAVE YOU DONE TO SAITO-KUN?" Lan whirled around and lunged at the two larger navis. Gutsman and Glyde squealed and ran for their lives in circles with Lan hot on their trail. Roll didn't move an inch and continued to stare at the monitor. 

"M-Meiru-chan...?" her voice sounded far away. Meiru stared at her from the other end, on her arms and legs, crawling around on the floor.

"Chu?" Meiru squeaked. A small red blur suddenly lunged out of nowhere and tackled the young girl.

"Meoooow!" Yaito hissed at her prey. Meiru Mouse made a high pitched noise then scurried around the table a few times with Yaito chasing her before she hid herself behind Saito who was curled up in a little ball on the floor. He opened one lazy eye. He perked up when he saw Yaito. The cat-like human hissed at him.

"Arf!" he jumped to his hands and feet and started galloping after her. Yaito wisely leapt on top of the nearby table. Saito looked a bit disappointed and curled up under the table. She had to come down sometime, and he would be there waiting.

Out of the corner of the screen, Roll could see Dekao eating all of the fruit out of the refrigerator while making some "Ooh Oohs" and "Ahh Ahhs."

Roll had seen all she wanted. She turned back toward her companions and was mildly surprised to see that Lan had, for some reason, decided to use a nearby program to replace a sword and was beating Glyde and Gutsman silly.

"Lan!" she scolded. Lan froze and pulled the program behind his back.

"Yes, Roll-chan?" he asked innocently. The pink navi shook her head. Lan hadn't really hurt Glyde or Gutsman, but he certainly scared them to death.

"We need to find a way to change our operators back. Glyde, can you tell us what happened?" She asked sweetly. The brown navi nodded. 

"While we were watching the show, the yoga master's navi took over the airways and hypnotized them or something... And, well, you can see for yourselves the effects..." He motioned sadly at the monitor. Lan smirked.

"Don't worry about it! I'll just go down to the TV station and beat some since into that freak! Then I'll make him change them all back to normal!" he announced.

"It might be dangerous for you to go by yourself without Saito... I'll assist you. I may not be very strong but I can hack threw any system that gets in your way," Glyde offered. Lan paused for a moment before nodding in agreement. 

"Gutsman go too! Degutsu!" the barbaric navi stepped forward and pounded his chest. Lan wasn't too pleased by this, but nodded reluctantly. Gutsman could get in the way sometimes, but he was far more tolerable than his operator.

"Me too!" Roll announced.

"No," Lan said quickly. Before Roll could protest he raised his hand to silence her. "I need someone to stay here and take care of Saito-kun..." He looked away with a small blush. "You should wait here..." Roll was silent for a moment.

"All right. But promise that you won't do anything to reckless and get hurt!" she said with a determined expression.

"I promise," both Lan and Gutsman said at the same time. They froze then whirled around to face the other with dirty looks. Now Lan remembered why he didn't like Gutsman.

"We should depart now..." Glyde motioned to the warp point. "After you two?"

"Whatever!" Lan smirked and jumped on the gate and was gone in a flash, quickly followed by Gutsman and Glyde. Roll watched the gate for a few minutes then looked back at the operators.

"... I know!" the pink navi opened the security system and had the base go on lock down so that no one could get in or out. "Heehee! Now I can help Lan too!" She grinned and followed after her friends.

The humans saw the windows and doors shut and all at once there was panic!

They all ran every which way trying to find an opening.

Deako howled his rage as he punched at the metal covering the window. 

Yaito scratched at the door howling.

Saito ran around barking trying to get attention.

Meiru just sat in the middle of the room saying "Chu..."

No one was sure of what to make of their predicament...

Roll sneakily followed Lan and the other two as they got to the TV station. She hid behind a program and listened to Lan talk.

"Ok the fastest was to save Saito-kun and the others is to go separately after Glyde gets up in. The faster we find out what happened the faster they become normal."

Gutsman and Glyde nodded. Then Lan and Gutsman stood back as Glyde proceeded to hack into the firewalls.

After the last one was gone the navi's went through and went their separate ways.

And so did Roll... 

Lan had felt a shadow behind him for awhile but didn't say anything of it lest to alarm it. But his sense of urgency grew and he tried to see what it was.

It was Roll.

"ROLL!" he yelled

The pink navi blushed at getting caught and looked down at the floor.

"WHY AREN'T YOU WATCHING SAITO-KUN!" 

"I..I... wanted to help. They can't get out..." 

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!" Lan was getting angrier and angrier

"I...I...I'm...sorry..."

Lan opened his mouth to respond but he didn't get the chance.

"Magic fire!"

A blue flame came at the two navis. Lan quickly picked up Roll and jumped to safety.

"Who are you?" he yelled at the shadows.

A voice came all around them. Roll hid behind Lan's back as the unknown navi talked.

"What does it matter, Lan? I am just doing what my operator wanted me to do. And you have gotten in the way of the WWW for the last time!" 

Another flame came out and Lan dodged that one too.

"Turn Saito-kun back to normal!" he yelled

"Why? The humans are in chaos. Now the WWW can rule and there is nothing you can do."

Lan brought up his buster and started shooting at random areas.

"Tut, tut. You will never catch me that way."

Then the fire came from all directions. Lan quickly shielded Roll as he felt the real flame on his back.

"Lan, you have messed up too many WWW operations to let you or your operator continue to live."

"What the hell do you want with Saito-kun!"

The navi gave a cruel chuckle and appeared in front of Lan and Roll.

They looked at the oddly navi, wondering who it was.

"I am Magicman! The hypnotizer. Human minds are so easy to mold to your will. How about yours?"

Waves seemed to radiate off of Magicman and Lan once again stood in front of Roll. She hid her eyes behind the navi but Lan couldn't look away.

He felt his mind go numb. He couldn't feel anything. Trying vainly to move he glared at the navi. 

"So easy. You should have a stronger defense. But I think it's time to make you pay Lan. Before we delete you we will make you feel pain through your operator. Say goodnight Lan." 

Lan felt his systems shut down for the second time that day. 

Then Magicman logged out of the building in pursuit of his prey.

Roll bent over Lan's unconscious body. His sleep wasn't natural at all. The normal peaceful look that normally dawned his face when he went through his rest cycle wasn't there. It was totally blank. Tears brimmed her gentle green eyes.

It was all her fault.

Lan could have dodged, or at least put up a better defense against Magicman, but he didn't. He had stayed to protect her. If only she had listened then perhaps Lan could have defeated the WWW agent. If only she wasn't so weak, she could have protected him... Roll clenched her teeth and stood up straight. The pink navi couldn't just let Lan's sacrifice go to waste! As much as she didn't like the thought of leaving him, it was her duty to protect Meiru and the other operators and finish what Lan started.

She would take on Magicman herself!

Roll didn't waste another moment and logged herself out.

Saito whined and pawed the door to the clubhouse. He was bored. The room was too small to run in and they had already destroyed most of the furniture, so there was nothing left to do. He didn't want to stay in the room any longer...

"Hikari Saito, I've finally found you!" A cold voice snickered. Saito spun around when he heard his name. A blue magician stared at him from the monitor. Saito cocked his head to the side. This was interesting.

"Chu!" Meiru squeaked and propped herself up to get a better look at the odd man. Yaito sniffed at it then returned to grooming herself. Dekao was too busy trying to see just how many different ways that one could destroy china plates to care. The magician gave them all funny looks.

"Hey! I'm threatening you all here!" he growled. "Don't you get it? In a few moments, you'll all be dead!" Saito rolled over on his back with a goofy expression. The blue navi groaned and covered his face. "Not "Play dead" "BE dead!"

Saito sniffed then sat up. See if he ever did another trick for that ungrateful little man again... The least he could have done would be to clap. Not everyone was clever enough to play dead, you know. 

"Ah... It's no fun to threaten my victim's lives when they don't even know what's going on... Never the less, I, Magicman, will see that you suffer!" A glass wall fell between Saito and the others. The former human yelped with fear and started to try and claw his way through. The others all watched him curiously. "Heh, time to pay for your crimes, Saito!" An electric current started to pulsate at the top of the glass cage.

"... Awwwr..." Saito whimpered and tried to curl up in a little ball.

"Hold it, Magicman!" The magician whirled around and was struck across the face by a heart shaped projectile. Roll didn't waste any time flinging more little hearts at her enemy.

"You...!" Magicman hissed and used his own attack to knock away the rest of Roll's attacks.

"I won't forgive you for what you did to Lan and our operators!" Roll challenged and moved herself into an offensive position. "Fight me, now!"

"Ha! A weak navi with no operator can't defeat me!" Magicman raised his arm and hundreds of viruses surrounded him. "You can play with my minions instead. Go, Virus Army!"

Roll gasped and took a step back. There was no way she could take a whole army and a WWW agent by herself!

But, as a net navi and a friend, it was her duty to fight! Not only to protect the others, but for herself as well. She couldn't expect her hero to show up every time she was in danger. It was time she fought for herself.

"Come and get me!" she challenged and raced head on into battle. 

"Lan... Lan...!" a gentle voice called through the dark regions of the navi's mind. What did the voice want? Who would be calling him? Why would they call him? He was so sleepy...

"Lan! Lan! Wake up, Lan!"

Why wouldn't it just give it a rest and shut up!

"Lan! Please, wake up!"

_"Lan, wake up! We're late for school again! Unless you want me to use the alarm clock, then at least try be a little responsible!"_

_... Saito-kun?_

"Lan! Lan!"

_Okay, Saito-kun, I'll get up for you..._

Lan's sleepy brown eyes slowly peeled back into the light. He winced at the sudden brightness, but noticed a shadow leaning over him. 

"S-Saito-kun...?" the small navi murmured.

"I'm afraid not," Glyde chuckled. "You certainly had us worried about you!"

"Us...?" Lan's eyes drifted over to Gutsman who looked as though he was about to faint. "Why are you..."

"Er! I-It not that Gutsman like you! Gutsman just like challenge!" the larger navi growled and looked away. "Gutsman beat you one day, so annoying blue navi must stay alive until then!"

Lan smirked half-heartedly. "The day you beat me is when Hell freezes over..." Gutsman snorted. 

"Lan, can you stand?" Glyde asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine... Um, what happened?" The blue warrior stood and glanced around the area.

"We were hoping you would tell us... We found you here like this..." Glyde frowned.

"I..." Lan's eyes widened with shock when his memory came back in a rush. "Roll-chan! Saito-kun! All the others...!"

"What?" his companions asked simultaneously.

"N-no time to explain! Glyde, we have to get back to the clubhouse right now!" Lan ordered.

"But what about the TV station?" the butler navi asked.

"Never mind that right now! We have something more important to take care of first!" Gutsman and Glyde nodded mutely and logged themselves out. 

"Heart Flash!" Roll growled while she released her attack and was met with the satisfaction of seeing ten viruses bite the dust. She turned around in time to dodge a dash attack virus. The virtual beast was soon disposed of the same way as the others. 

Magicman was surprised. The pink navi was able to hold her own pretty well, but he could see that it wouldn't be long before she would use up all of her energy. The girl was a novice battler and didn't even have her operator with her; it was only a matter of time before she would be too weak to even stand. He smirked darkly. The viruses could have their fun, but he wanted to finish her off. 

Saito and the other humans could only watch helplessly in confusion while the viruses slowly picked off Roll's HP.

Roll gasped and panted. She knew she was in trouble. Her energy was low and more viruses where coming. Magicman was still quite a force to be reckoned with on his own. It was a hopeless fight. All she could do was take down as many as she could with her.

"Chu?" Roll looked up at her operator. The gentle brown eyes that she had grown to adore stared back at her with confusion and fear. A sad smile formed on Roll's face and she whispered back.

"I will protect you..."

She crouched over and charged all of her power into one final blast. Magicman snorted. Her power was impressive, for a rookie, but to him, it was nothing more than an annoyance. He teleported right in front of her.

"Go ahead and release that suicidal attack, it won't stop me." His voice was cold and hard, but Roll could find no hint of a lie within it. She gulped. "You are a pathetic little thing, aren't you? To think that you thought you could stop me..." he scoffed and bent down so that his face was only inches from hers.

"I will kill Hikari Saito, and make the others into circus puppets! They can perform for all of WWW!" He snickered when he saw Roll's eyes flash with rage.

"The only person who belongs in a circus is you, freak!" A neon blast of plasma slammed Magicman back into the ground.

"Lan!" Roll cheered when she saw the blue navi. Gutsman was soon at her side.

"Roll-chan okay? Degutsu!" he asked.

"I'll be all right..." she smiled up at him.

"Thank goodness!" Glyde also made himself know as he blasted away some of the viruses. "To think that all the nasty beasts have wormed their way onto Yaito-sama's computer!" he scoffed indignantly.

"W-Why you little brat...!" Magicman growled and pushed himself to his feet. "I'll make you pay dearly for this! MAGIC FIRE!" Lan dodged the first blast and fired off his buster.

"Barrier!" A new voice announced when a wall appeared between Lan's attack and Magicman.

"Damn!" the blue navi hissed. "It's about time that you came out, you false yoga master!"

"False, you say?" the voice chuckled. "I am a yoga master, indeed, I am, but I'm a yoga master of WWW also! Tell me, little navi, what do you intend to do to save your operator and friends, hm?" 

Lan's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I'll do what ever I must to make you pay for what you did to Roll-chan and Saito-kun!" 

"Surely you realize how useless it is without your operator? You're pretty much helpless!" Magicman's operator laughed.

"Then why don't you focus your energy on a more suitable opponent instead of picking on a bunch of kids?" A red navi with long silver hair stepped from the shadows.

"It took us a while to find you, Mahajarama," the navi's operator said smoothly.

"What? Who are-!" Magicman started but was cut off by the red navi's sword.

**Magicman, Logging out**

"Woah..." Lan muttered and turned to the red navi. "I could of taken him..."

"Whatever..." the red navi muttered and logged out.

"Hey, wait!" Lan pouted. "I don't even know who that guy was..." 

"Unnng... L-Lan...?" The navi's attention was drawn to the monitor. Saito blinked back at him with droopy eyes. Lan laughed tiredly from relief.

"Saito-kun, you look horrible!"

"I... Um, what happened?" the human frowned and rubbed his head. "I feel funny..."

"I don't think it really matters anymore..." Lan shrugged.

"Huh?" 

"Ahhhh! My club house!" Yaito shrieked. "What happened! It looks like it was torn up by a bunch of wild animals!" The navis chuckled nervously.

"Roll-chan, why are you so damaged?" Meiru gasped.

"Well... I... Um... It was an accident?" Roll bit her lip and smiled weakly.

"Hurry and log out so I can fix you!" Meiru ordered. Roll was all too happy to oblige.

"Heh. Hey, Saito-kun, the show's over, so why don't we head home?" Lan offered. After all the weird stuff that had happened, he was ready for a nice long nap.

"Okay... I'm feeling pretty tired anyway..." Saito nodded.

"Er, one problem, guys..." Dekao whined. "The doors are all locked!"

"Oops! Sorry about that!" Glyde quickly shut off the security system. Yaito gave him an irritated glare.

"I don't know what happened, and right now, I'm too tired to care, but after my nap, I want the whole story from you, Glyde!" she announced.

"Yes, Yaito-sama..." Glyde sighed.

"You ready, Lan?" Saito asked his partner.

"Yup!" the blue navi cheered. "I feel pretty good, but you really do look terrible. Do you realize how mad your mom would be at me if I let something bad happen to you?" 

"Don't worry, I trust you..." The young operator said calmly.

Lan smiled as he logged himself out. Despite everything they had gone through, it had been a pretty good day.

If only he had a camera to get Saito running around like a dog on film...

Higure Yamitarou sat in front of his computer for the third straight day. No sleep, food or (baths). He just sat there and watched the little green bar inch painfully across the screen.

"Just a little more..." he whispered

Numberman, who was in stasis mode floated on the screen as the upgrade was downloaded into his system.

His operator stared at the screen, the light reflecting off his glasses. The bar was almost there...

"YES!" Higure danced around in a fit of joy.

Numberman slowly opened his eyes. He didn't feel right...

He saw the man dancing around. The man looked at him. "Numberman, we did it! We will win the N1 Grand Prix for sure!"

"What are you talking about!" he hissed. He didn't want to listen to this babble. He was confused enough as it was.

Higure's face took on a mask on concern. "Numberman are you ok?"

Numberman couldn't stand it! The mans voice was annoying as hell! And the "demasu" at the end of every sentence didn't help. He broke through the link and flew off into the net. Glad to be rid of that annoying voice.


	6. Chapter 6

"Mmmmph..." Lan's head was throbbing, he never remembered being beat up so bad as when Magicman came in.

"Lan, you need to get up..." Saito said sweat dropping.

"5 more minutes, nii-san..." Lan said, half-asleep

Saito giggled. "I'm not your nii-san!" he said in a cheerful voice "I am your operator!" 

Lan's eyes flew open. 'Ahhhhh! I almost goofed' he thought 

"R-right! Of course you are not my nii-san! Heh heh, silly me!"

Saito looked at Lan oddly. "Are you ok?" 

Lan giggled again. "Of course! I just made a slip of the tongue. Maybe Magicman hit my circuitry too hard."

"Maybe..." said Saito, though a bit skeptically.

Roll came though the link.

"You two, Higure-san asked us to meet him at the park. Something about Numberman. Meiru-chan sent me to get you two. Wanna come?"

"YES!" said Lan "Let's go!" he grabbed Roll's arm and went through the link calling behind him "Meet you there Saito-kun!"

Saito stood in his room blinking.

"My Numberman... my Numberman!" Higure was sobbing

Meiru tried to comfort him. "I-it's ok. I'm sure we can save him."

"Th-thank yoooooou!" he sobbed

They all stared at the sad little man, wondering why they gave him their help.

Lan and Roll walked in the cyber world looking for Numberman. It wasn't going well but they were having a good conversation.

"The bond that you and Saito seem to share is amazing!" said Roll 

Lan rubbed the back of his head "Heh, not really. We just accent each other well."

"No, that's not true. The bond you two have... it's like you are ... family. Like brothers!"

"B-brothers! You don't say! Heh..." 

"But that sounds silly." continued Roll

"Silly! Yeup! Definitely, it's silly!"

Roll looked at Lan. "Are you ok?"

"Me? I'm fine!" Lan blushed a deep scarlet as Roll looked at him. Her face was so close...

"What did I say?" said Roll "Did I offend you?" she started to become sulky.

"No! No..." Lan looked at her. "Ummmm..." he looked around "Roll-chan... can you keep a secret?"

In the shadows, Numberman's eyes glowed red.

Higure continued to sob in his little corner of the clubhouse. No one really thought it was necessary to bother him, as he was prone to sudden outbursts. Dekao sat on the sofa, playing with his PET. When Saito asked him what he was doing to Gutsman, the larger boy would only reply with an obnoxious grunt and tell him to mind his own business. Meiru sat on the sofa next to Dekao and glanced at her PET every now and then to see if Roll had found anything.

Saito sighed and leaned back in his chair across from Meiru, mentally wishing Yaito was there to help out. The youngest, and smartest of the group had conveniently decided to go on a business trip with her father that weekend to Jawaii. Naturally, she was only going for the sightseeing. Yaito had been kind enough to give them permission to use the clubhouse, but she was the only one who really knew how to work the machines. So they had to make due with what they had. Which consisted of a building, internet access and their navis.

That thought reminded Saito that it was about time he checked on Lan's status. He didn't want to directly bother Lan by opening a window so he could talk with the navi since his blue companion was with Roll. That would probably only embarrass him.

He pulled up his PET and noted that Lan's HP was at 100. He knew that Lan would tell him if he found anything, so the operator decided to take this time to rest his eyes for a bit... 

"Lan, what is it?" Roll asked. Her green eyes bore into his brown. The navi stuttered over his words.

"Saito-kun is... I'm..."

_No! _His voice screamed at him in his head. Lan froze, his eyes drifted to the ground.

_You promised not to tell! You promised _YOURSELF _not to tell! You can't, no matter what. No one can know. Not even..._

"... The ones I love and trust the most..." he finished out loud. 

"What?" Roll gently touched his shoulder. "What did you say?"

"I... I said..." Lan smiled at his pink clad companion. "You are one of the people I love and trust the most..."

_And that's why you can never know..._

Roll blushed. She had never heard Lan speak so openly about anything like that before... It was odd to hear such honest and compassionate words from him. The meaning of what he said sent an electric pulse through her frame. Roll giggled softly. 

"What?" Lan pouted. Maybe he said something wrong? Roll was acting funny.

"Well..." She began slowly. 

"RAWR!" A tall, lean figure suddenly jumped at them from behind a collection of data, forcing Roll and Lan to flee. 

"Numberman!" Roll gasped when she regained her footing. "What are you doing?"

"Nahahahaha!" The insane navi cackled. "You all must BOW to me!"

"Say what?" Lan didn't seem to take Numberman seriously at all. The blue navi folded his arms across his chest and gave his former ally a sarcastic glare. "Who do you think you are?"

"You may call me Numberman-SAMA!" The crazed one threw his arms up and cackled some more.

"Geez, you're really annoying..." Lan sweat dropped. Numberman was just as eccentric as his operator and his faulty upgrade was not helping.

"Numberman--" 

"--sama!--"

"... Right..." Roll was taken a bit off guard by the outburst but quickly recovered. "Higure-san is very worried about you. We want to take you back so he can fix the damage done to your CPU..."

"You'll never take me alive!" Numberman tried to bolt for the nearest network system, the next thing he knew he was slammed into the ground and was in a rather painful headlock.

"Your stupid antics are messing up our training! Me and Saito-kun have to be ready for the N1 tomorrow!" Lan growled as he tightened his hold. "So you are going back to your nice little PET where your operator can fix you."

"N-Never!" In a burst of strength that Lan didn't know Numberman possessed, the rebel threw him off and chucked several dice bombs his way. Roll flinched when the die hit their target.

"Nahahahaha! Later, losers!" Numberman jetted into the data stream for areas unknown.

"Did he just say... 'Later, losers'?" Lan's eyelid twitched at the cliché. He didn't even bother to move from his position, sprawled out on the ground.

"Yes. He got away, too," Roll pulled Lan to his feet.

"That little...!" Lan simmered for a moment. "Saito-kun! Saito-kun, answer!" 

"W-What is it Lan?" Saito blinked at his navi owlishly.

"...Were you sleeping?" Lan pouted. "Saito-kun...!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" The human blushed. "It isn't that I forgot you, I just... was sleepy?" Lan's expression softened a little. Only a little. 

"Um... Did something happen?" Saito frowned when he noticed that Lan's HP had gone down a little.

"Yes! Numberman attacked us!" Lan huffed.

"What! Are you two okay?" The operator looked from Lan to Roll and back. 

"Yeah... No thanks to you!" Saito flinched at Lan's words.

"I'm really sorry, okay?" He sighed. Lan eyed him for a moment, as if he was checking to see if his operator was lying or not. "Aw, come on, don't you trust me?" 

"I... O-Of course I do, you're my operator..." Lan was taken back by the sudden accusation.

"That doesn't really mean you trust me..." Saito frowned.

"I do!" The blue navi pouted and folded his arms stubbornly.

"Saito..." Meiru put her hand on Saito's shoulder. "Lets plug them out. I bet Lan and Roll are just tired." She gave her friend a reassuring smile and plugged out her navi.

"Okay. You're probably right," Saito turned to his pixilated friend. "Sorry for accusing you like that."

"Whatever," Lan shrugged and returned to his PET.

"Did you find Numberman?" Higure asked from over Saito's shoulder.

"Um... Sort of ." The boy shifted, unsure of how the chip otaku would take the news of his navi's latest assault. "He attacked Lan and Roll then fled." 

"They didn't hurt him, did they!" Higure's eyes widened with horror.

"Um..." Saito glanced down at Lan. 

"I only wish..." The blue navi grumbled.

"No," Saito announced. If Numberman had been hurt, Lan wouldn't have been in such a bad mood.

"Hey, everybody!" a familiar voice announced its arrival. The little mob of net battlers turned to see Yaito walk through the door. "Papa decided he didn't like that company after all, so we came back early. Miss me?" She smirked. 

"Yaito-chan! Thank goodness!" Saito sighed. Hopefully Yaito could come up with a plan to get to Numberman.

"Boy, have we got a lot to tell you!" Dekao grinned. As the group of battlers explained their situation, Lan fiddled absently with some spare data he found. Eventually, he managed to turn the data into a small program. What it did, he wasn't sure, even though he was the one that made it. It blinked up at him owlishly.

"Um, hi?" the navi offered.

"Hello," the program responded.

"What do you do?"

"I have no function specified."

"Then how can you be a program?"

"I don't know. You're the one that made me."

"Oh... Okay... Umm... I know! Why don't you help remind me of stuff? Like when to wake up, and other things that I forget I'm supposed to do."

"You must be a very lazy or useless navi."

"S-Shut up!" Lan frowned. "You shouldn't say things like that to the person that created you!"

"I don't mind keeping up with things. I should be capable of it." The program shrugged off Lan's last comment as if it never happened.

"You've got some attitude for a simple program..." Lan frowned, a thought suddenly struck him. "Saito-kun might be mad that I made a program without telling him..."

"Oh, I see I'm unneeded?" The program cocked its head to the side. 

"Er... Sorry..." Lan shifted. The program just nodded. 

"I will break down my data then..." Lan watched in slight horror as the program basically deleted itself, then reformed into junk data, without a mind and without a purpose.

Lan shivered. That's what a program was; something that could easily be deleted and recreated. It was nothing more, and nothing less. Just data. Lan was a very advanced program, but still a program. It unnerved him to see data be... destroyed like that. None of the other navis seemed to care. Perhaps it was because of Netto? Lan mentally smacked himself and shook his head. Thoughts like that would only cause him more trouble.

"Lan?" Saito's face appeared on the monitor.

"Huh?" The navi straightened himself up and turned to his operator. "What is it?"

"We've come up with a plan to stop Numberman, are you up to it?"

"Of course! It's time to make that freak pay!" Lan grinned with anticipation.

After Saito had told Lan the plan Lan had started to grin with excitement. When Saito asked if it was really ok he was shocked. His friend was worried that he the daredevil Lan was scared. He scoffed and told him that he would be okay. Only Roll noticed the lines of worry on Saito's face. 

The first part of the plan was to get Numberman in the right area, specifically an area where there were no other navis to get hurt. This part was tricky because the deranged navi was very upset and not easily maneuvered without his knowledge.

"Glyde, make sure that he does not see you." Said Yaito in her best bossy voice

"Yes, Yaito-Sama." He said and went back to scouting the area.

He was flying over the area that Numberman was last seen. He knew that he could not let the navi see him so he flew very low to the ground. But he was still high enough to see quite a distance in front of him. As he flew the dim outline of Numberman came into view and he landed.

"Yaito-sama, I have found him."

Lan smiled as he heard Glyde's voice come over the incom.

"Come on Roll!" he said grabbing her hand. "Time to get him!"

Roll smiled and nodded. She had never seen this side of him. He seemed like an excited little boy more than anything.

Lan sneaked over to the coordinates that Glyde had given them. "Okay he should be here." Whispered Lan

"Just make sure he doesn't see you." Said Meiru urgently

"Got it." Said Lan and Roll together

They saw his outline and started to sneak up. They both had numbers made out of binary in their arm, hoping that it would lure him to the area he wanted. But when they got close enough, Lan could tell something was wrong.

"Roll-chan, I don't think.."

"BOO!" said a voice behind them. Both navi's jumped a foot in the air.

"Ha ha! You think you could sneak up on me! The great Numberman-sama! Think again!"

He threw some dice out and Lan and Roll jumped away with ease.

"Well so much for sneaking." Said Lan

Roll nodded.

"So time to do this my way!" 

"Wait, Lan what do you mean your wa-" But Roll was cut off as Lan jumped in front of the rampaging Numberman.

"Oy, stupid! What do you mean 'Numberman-sama' did you get elevated to royalty on your little trip? Because you sure aren't a 'sama' in strength comparison."

Numberman started to get angry and turned red. You could almost hear his data start to simmer.

"Baka! If you think you are so great come and face me!" said the little brown haired navi

"Lan..." Saito groaned as he heard his headstrong navi's voice over the incom.

To put the frosting on the cake Lan stuck his tongue out at the navi.

That did it! Numberman flew in a rage at the small navi. Lan just grinned, turned around and ran. He continued to run and got on the one site that was safe.

Then as he came in through the link Lan raised his hand. Then flew towards as Numberman put a blaster in his back. 

But then a bright colored net flew over him pinning him to the ground.

Lan walked over to the trapped navi.

"Was that supposed to hurt?"

Numberman thrashed against the bonds holding him down. "Let me go! I, the great Numberman-sama shall make you rue the day you were created, I..." 

"Can someone shut him up PLEASE?" yelled Lan 

"Thank you, demasu!" said Higure rushing over to the computer.

"Can you uninstall the upgrade?" asked Saito.

Higure nodded and took the now captured navi into his PET. "Thank you very much." he said again

"Don't mention it." said Meiru

"I don't mean to be the one to bring bad news, but isn't the N1 Grand Prix starting in like, 10 minutes?" asked Lan

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I'm going to miss my battle!" yelled Dekao. "You little punk, you waited to say something on purpose didn't you!"

"Shut up, blubber butt, at least I did remember!" Lan shouted back

"Why you..."

"Will both of you stop bickering?" said Yaito. "I can get you there in no time at all!" 

"What? How?" asked Dekao, who was beginning to get desperate.

"Everyone sit down." Yaito instructed. She turned around and sat in her own seat motioning for everyone to follow her example.

Saito plugged out Lan and sat on the couch. Meiru and Dekao did the same.

Yaito picked up her remote and pressed a few buttons. "Gate three open!"

Then her seat lifted up and a seatbelt strapped her to it, then it zoomed down a hole. Saito and his friends watched in amazement as Yaito disappeared.

"What the hell is this?" asked Lan 

Just then seatbelts strapped Meiru, Saito and Dekao to the couch and they went down too.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Saito was not happy with this new surprise.

The couch came to a sudden halt.

"Thank good..." said Saito, only to be rushed sideways at the same speed. The piece of furniture came to rest inside a giant... airplane.

"Well, that was certainly weird." said Lan "Let's never do that again." 

"Agreed!" said Saito

Dekao could only nod, his hand still clutching the arm rest.

Yaito came in and had her seat put down right in front of her friends. "To the N 1 Grand Prix, pronto!" she said

"Yes, Yaito-sama." said a lady, wearing what looked like a maid outfit at the controls.   
"The first match might just be a default win!" said Kero yelling into her mike loudly. "Dekao and his navi Gutsman are nowhere to be seen! What will happen in the next minute, what a way to start the competition!"

"Heyyyyyy! Don't start without meeeee!" Dekao hung from a rope above the stadium with his PET strapped around his neck.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Look at that, Dekao has make quite an entrance here for the first battle of the N 1 Grand Prix main dome!"

Dekao let go of the rope and fell to the ground. "Ooof"

Lan saw this up in the plane. "Heh..."

"Lan, don't." Saito warned.

Dekao quickly got up and walked up to the simulator. "Plug in, Gutsman, transmission!" 

Gutsman came in to see a very generic navi standing in front of him.

"Ready and, BATTLE START!" yelled Kero 

"Guts hammer chip, slot in!"

"Guts hammer!" Gutsman slammed the weapon into the ground. But the small lithe navi jumped up.

"Sword, slot in." said his operator.

"Mega guts punch, slot in!"

"Guts PUNCH!" Gutsman threw all he had into the blow, making the poor navi log out immediately.

"AND THE FIRST BATTLE GOES TO DEKAO AND GUTSMAN! SETTING A NEW RECORD LOGOUT TIME OF 17 SECONDS!" Kero was in hysterics.

"Yay Dekao!" said Meiru 

Just them Kero was handed a paper. "Wait ladies and gentlemen! A NEW record was just set by Enzan Ijuuin, and his navi Blues, with a log out time of 3 seconds!"

"This just keeps getting better and better." said Lan

"Welcome to the N1 Grand Prix, everyone!" Kero's voice boomed over the loud speakers for, what Lan thought, was the one-hundredth time. "Now we're ready to continue with the first round battles! We'll have the next match line ups in just a few moments."

The crowd boomed with excitement, fans cheering and raising their voices to cheer for the competitors. Loud people, pushy crowds and close seats; everything a good tournament needed. And everything that Saito hated. 

The boy was, needless to say, miserable with his hands tightly clasped over his ears. He hated crowds, loud noises and tight spaces. But even he had to admit that this was exciting.

"This is going to be great," Lan cheered from his PET, "right, Saito-kun?"

"Oh, yeah, great," Saito said as he smiled at his companion. "Hey, I think the others said they were going to meet just outside of the stadium for some lunch….." 

"In an hour," Lan finished, quirking an eyebrow at his operator. "You're not getting cold feet, are you?" 

"No, no, nothing like that," Saito said, "I'm just a little... um... I don't like being in places with lots of people."

"Pansy."

"Hey," the human grumbled with a pout. "You'd better be nice, Lan, or I'll take us right back home."

"And pass up a chance to show off to Meiru?" Lan challenged. "This'll be a good time for you to show her that you're a real man!"

Saito couldn't hold back a blush. "R-Real men fight with words, not fists..." he muttered in hopes of curving his navi's violent attitude.

"You know," Lan said after a slight pause, "if I could, I would smack you for that." Saito simply shrugged off the navi's comments and stood up.

"I'm going to head to the meeting spot we chose," he said as he pocketed his PET. "I can't stand all of this shouting anymore." 

"Pansy."

"Shut up." 

"Saito-kun, we're lost," Lan reported after nearly an hour of hunting for the picnic area.

"This place is so big," Saito sighed and looked down at his PET. "Can't I just plug you in and have you look for a map or something?"

"No." 

"Why?"

"Because I don't love you enough."

"You're just lazy."

"Your point?"

Saito groaned and slipped the device back into his pocket. Lan was never helpful unless they were fighting. The boy started to complain when he noticed a familiar, black and purple clad figure standing near a balcony with a crystal ball in hand. "Miyuki-san," he called as he ran over to the woman, "what are you doing here?"

The woman said nothing, her cool gaze on the battle arena. Saito paused then followed the direction her attention was focused on. Tohru had just entered the arena and was starting to plug in Iceman as Kero screamed at the audience. 

"Alright! Iceman's first fight!" Lan cheered excitedly as he watched the very strange opponent enter from his PET. The navi was definitely odd, his body looking more like a rocket launcher than anything. He thought he heard Kero call him Breakman in between her shrieks. "I wonder if he's strong or not..." 

"This match will be over in one minute," Miyuki finally said, taking both operator and navi by surprise, "Tohru will win."

"Are you sure?" Saito asked softly, giving her a strange look. The woman always seemed to take him by surprise.

"Yes, the future has been revealed to me," she said without looking from the battle.

"What a load of bull," Lan snorted, succeeding in getting his operator to put him on mute.

Saito sighed and turned to watch the battle as well. Iceman's opponent was definitely strange, but tough looking. He couldn't help worrying a little for his friend and said friend's navi.

When the buzzer rang, the opponent immediately fired off his missiles, only to be blocked by Tohru's battle chip, Ice Cube. Breakman made some sort of comment to Iceman then fired another missile directly at the warrior Eskimo. Tohru shouted a command and Saito silently cheered as he watched Iceman's Freeze Bubble not only take out the missile, but his opponent as well, turning the navi into an ice sculpture, all in one minute.

"That was amazing," he said as he turned to look at Miyuki, "you were right after all!"

"It's going to rain," Miyuki said bluntly, once again taking Saito slightly off guard. With that she turned and walked away.

"Rain?" Saito muttered to himself before turning his PET off mute.

Lan was fuming and had a few choice words for his operator. "Saito-kun, you as--" But he was stopped short in his sentence when the human switched him on mute once more.

"Oh, well, now for that picnic," Saito said to himself as if nothing had passed between him and his navi before walking out of the arena.

The skies looked clear overhead, but he wondered if there were stormy clouds ahead in the future as Miyuki had predicted.

"Here it is!" said Masa setting down a large wooden box filled with bentou's. "It's Masa's specially filled calcium lunch!"

Saito, Meiru, Yaito, Dekao and Tohru all looked into the box apprehensively. "Well it doesn't look to bad." Said Saito quietly.

Meiru nodded. "Let's try it, if it's too weird we can always pretend we're late for your match against Myuki."

Lan snorted. "Are you guys that worried about fish head's cooking?" he said loudly.

"Lan, shhhhh, or I'll press the mute button again." Said Saito, with a warning tone.

Lan shut his mouth and let Saito eat. After a few bites of the lunch Saito looked at Masa. "This isn't that bad Masa-san. Thank-you."

"Well, of course it's not bad! Calcium makes everything taste good!" he said striking another pose.

Everyone laughed nervously and ate the rest of their meal in silence.

"AH! I'm late, I'm going to be late for my match!" Saito was running as quickly as he could to the stadium. "Lan, why didn't you warn me!"

"You told me to be quiet, remember?" came the retort.

"Lan, why on earth are you so mean some…." Saito ran straight into Higure. "Ahhh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

"It's all right Saito-kun." Saito looked up and saw who he had run into. "To tell you the truth I was looking for you."

"Yes, I know I was late, I'm so sorry!" he said

Higure laughed. "No, no. I was looking to give you something." Higure pressed some battlechips into Saito's hand. "Use these to win today's battle for me, huh?"

Saito shook his head. "I can't accept these." He said

"Of course you can." Came Lan's voice. "The man is just trying to help you."

"Yes, now you better hurry along before you're disqualified, huh?" said Higure.

Saito was suddenly reminded of his rampage minutes before. "Ahhh! I'm gonna be late!" he yelled running to the arena.

"Not that way, dork, that's the sub arena! Our battle is in the main arena!" yelled Lan.

"What's the difference?" asked Saito

"Uhhh, the main one is about three times bigger?"

Higure watched Saito run off towards the large center dome. "Good luck, Saito!" called Higure. The Higure felt a drop of rain on his nose. "That's funny, it was clear outside a few minutes ago."

Saito ran inside and took a look at the chips that Higure had given to him while he made his way to the main fighting dome. He had acquired 8 new mini bomb chips.

"That gyp, those chips are some of the weakest chips of all! Win the battle for me, ha! What a joke." Said Lan

In truth, Saito wasn't that happy either, he knew he wasn't good enough to pull a stunning win with strong battle chips. Mini bombs were practically useless to him. "Well, it's the thought that counts." He said, sighing.

"Right, so that reflects how much he thinks or the thought he puts into things. Either way, he can't be too bright."

"Lan!" Saito berated his nave.

"Ahh! Left turn here!" said Lan loudly.

"I thought you weren't giving me directions." Saito teased

"I am when it means I get to battle."

"Some navi you are." Saito scoffed

"Hey, you're the one who is late, not me!" said Lan defensively.

"You were supposed to warn me!" came the exasperated reply.

"Yeah, well it's the principle of the matter." Said Lan

"Saito Hikari and his navi Lan are late to their first match! If he does not get here within the minute he will be disqualified!" boomed Kero's voice over the loud speakers.

"Saito Hikari will be here in thirteen seconds." Said Myuki, her glassy eyes reflecting the stadium light.

"Well, did you hear that folks, Saito is going to be here in under ten seconds! He better hurry up!" this brought a chuckle from the crowd.

Ten seconds later Saito came dashing into the field red faced and panting. "Sorry…. I'm…. late…." He said

Myuki nodded. "I knew you would be. Thank you for making it on time."

Saito blushed, though it was hard to tell as he made his way to the jacking in area.

"Be a good operator, dork. I don't want to get kicked out in the prelims." Said Lan, in an almost quivery voice.

Saito grinned. "I don't plan to."

"You're awfully cocky for someone who just picked up net battling." Said Miyuki in her monotone voice.

The jab she took hurt Saito. "Say's you." He muttered as he jacked in Lan.

"You'll pay for insulting Saito!" said Lan

The area in front of Lan pixilated and fell away to reveal a tall bony navi with a permanent grin etched on his face.

"Then show me." He said in a gravely voice.

Lan laughed. "Bring it on, bonehead!"

Overhead a loud buzzer sounded, the giant screen flashed "Battle Start", and a loud roar rose from the crowd. Saito's and Lan's first N1 battle had just begun.


	7. Chapter 7

Before Lan even had a chance to blink Skullman brought his arms back in his special attack, "Bone Boomerang!" he called out in a voice that sent chills down Saito's spine.

His forearms flew off and spiraled towards Lan's head. He jumped back, trying to avoid them, but as they arced around Lan knew he wasn't going to make the second dodge.

"Lan!" Saito yelled, seeing his friend get caught by the attack.

Lan stood up, his breathing heavy, "Saito, shut up and send me battle chips if you want to help," he said.

Saito didn't need a second bidding, "Sword, battle chip in!" he called.

A bright blue sword materialized on Lan's forearm and he went after Skullman in a head on attack. Skullman saw him coming and jumped smoothly out of the way, then bringing his bony leg up in a roundhouse kick catching Lan in the stomach.

Miyuki looked at Saito with her glassy eyes focused in the heat of battle, "You can not win," she said in a silvery voice. "If you don't plug out now your friend will be deleted."

Saito looked at Lan with a worry he never felt before. It had just hit him that if he made any mistakes, he might loose Lan forever.

Lan stood up and coughed, "Hey! Don't listen to her, we can beat her. We can win this, understand! Don't you dare start getting soft on me again," he said.

Saito nodded and adopted a resolute look on his face, "I won't let you down."

Lan smiled, "Good, cause I wouldn't accept anything less, now let's do this!"

"Aqua tower, battle chip in!" Saito yelled, shoving the small chip into his PET.

The water went careening towards Skullman, but he disappeared and reappeared on the other side. "To slow!" he called.

Lan growled and Saito prepared to use another chip. "What's the use?" Miyuki asked. "We'll just defeat you anyway."

Lan had just about had enough, "Okay, listen lady, I know I'm 'just' a net navi, but will you please shut up and let my operator concentrate?" he asked.

Miyuki glanced at Lan in the net, his human aura briefly appeared to her and was gone before she could get a closer look. His existence puzzled her, but she couldn't do anything about it, not while she was in battle.

"Thanks Lan," Saito said gratefully.

"Thank me later, win now," said Lan.

Saito pushed another chip into his PET, this time an aqua sword. Lan once again flew at Skullman only to miss by a long shot. Skullman came up on Lan's left side and used his bone boomerang to send him on the other side of the field.

Saito watched the battle, 'Something isn't right," he said to himself. 'No navi can just disappear, how is he…'

Skullman disappeared again to reappear above Lan. Lan dodged getting his head cut off by mere centimeters.

'Speed! Why didn't I think of it before! No wonder we can't touch him, we've been going about this the wrong way!' Saito thought excitedly.

"Stupid ghost navi," Lan muttered, holding his arm.

"Lan stop, we need to change tactics. Brute strength isn't going to work here," Saito called to his navi.

"Well then, what do you propose we do?" asked Lan as Skullman prepared for another attack.

"Do you trust me?" asked Saito.

"Of course, what kind of stupid question is that?" Lan snorted.

"Then do exactly as I say, understand?" Saito said.

Lan nodded, and dodged another attack, loosing a bit of speed.

"Okay then, mini bomb, slot in!" Saito shouted.

A mini bomb appeared in front of Lan and he took it. "That's your plan!" he screeched.

"Lan shut up and throw it!" Saito said.

Lan threw it and missed Skullman by a mile. "I can't hit him," he said angrily.

"I know, just trust me okay?" Saito said.

Lan sighed and nodded.

"Okay, Mini Bomb slot in!" he yelled.

Yet another mini bomb appeared before Lan and he threw it. More and more mini bombs came and Lan threw every one until nothing could be seen because of all the smoke.

"Oh! I wonder what Lan and Saito are trying to do!" Kero yelled excitedly.

"Yeah, me too," Lan muttered.

"Just watch," Saito said and slotted in a sword chip. "And when you see something, strike."

Lan looked in the thick plumes of smoke and saw a blur appear right in front of him. His eyes widened in realization on Saito's plan. He thrust his arm forward and caught Skullman through the chest, sending him flying back.

"Using the smoke as a detector, Saito, you're BRILLIANT!" Lan cheered.

Skullman laughed and stood up, "Yes, but can you do it again?" he asked.

Miyuki smiled and pulled the plug on her PET, logging out Skullman. She walked by Saito and smiled, "So, you're Saito. Nice work, I never saw that."

Saito blushed, "Thank you. Miyuki-san."

"So! First timer's Saito Hikari and his navi Lan have defeated Miyuki and her mysterious navi Skullman!" Kero cheered from her post.

The crowd roared its approval and Saito and Lan smiled and waved back.

In the shadows, they were watched by Enzan and his navi. "Luck," he muttered and stuck his hands in his pockets. "That girl threw away the match," he said.

"Yes, Enzan-sama," Blues said.

Saito gave a sigh of relief as he and his friends sat around waiting for the next match ups to be presented.

Meiru latched onto Saito's arm and said, "That was so cool! You and Lan make a great team."

Dekao growled at them, but didn't say anything.

In the net Roll latched onto Lan's arm much in the same way Meiru did with Saito. "Yeah, you two are great together."

It was a peculiar thing to see Lan blush, but blush he did and glared furiously at Iceman and Glyde as then laughed silently.

Gutsman was also mercifully silent.

The monitor beeped and Lan said, "Hey, look the match ups are being posted!" and returned to his PET before any more of his dignity could be taken away.

Everyone crowded around the monitor and looked for their names, "Ah! I'm against someone named Madoi?" Meiru said.

"Hinoken…" Saito read out loud. "Wait, isn't that Fireman's operator?" he asked alarmed.

"Yes!" Lan jabbed a fist into the air. "It's pay back time!" he said.

"Who's Madoi?" Meiru asked.

Yaito shrugged, "Who knows, who cares. Do you want to go look at stuff in the gift shop to kill some time?" she asked.

"Sure!" said Meiru, "Anyone else want to come?" she asked.

Saito, Dekao and Tohru all smiled and shook their heads nervously.

Meiru and Yaito turned around in a huff, "Well, they obviously don't appreciate our company, let's go Yaito."

"Yes, let's," said Yaito.

"A-ah, we didn't me…" Saito started but Dekao clamped a hand over his mouth.

"Don't, they just want the attention. Besides they could make us go if we do," he said.

Lan nodded, "As much as I hate to admit it, blubber butt is right. Just let them go, Saito."

Saito sighed, "All right," he said doubtfully. But he couldn't shake the sense of impending doom.

Meiru and Yaito were in the shop giggling as they tried on hats. "Hey, do you like this one?" asked Meiru putting on a baseball cap.

"Yeah!" said Yaito, "You look really cute in it."

Meiru giggled and started to say 'thanks' when she felt the hat be lifted off her head. She turned around angrily, "Hey! That's my hat!"

A girl with large reddish pony tails and questionable fashion sense put the hat on with a wink. "I think I look much more beautiful in this hat then you."

Meiru glared at her. "You…"

Madoi overlooked her with an almost sad expression, "Awww, I'm so sad to say my competition isn't much, Coloredman. Not even a teenager."

"Don't worry Madoi, I'm sure you'll meet a worthy opponent next time," said Coloredman.

"I do hope so," said Madoi.

"Watch what you say, old hag!" said Meiru.

"O…. did you just call me an old hag!" Madoi screeched.

"You bet I did! Now give me back my hat!"

"I think I'll keep it. As a memoir for when I beat you!" she said.

"Old hag, old hag!" Meiru and Yaito sing songed at her as she left the shop with the hat.

"Don't worry Meiru, I'm sure you'll win," said Yaito.

"I know I will," said Meiru.

Meiru and Yaito went back to where to Saito and everyone else was staying. Meiru seemed to have an aura of fire around her and she looked really miffed to say the least. "H-hey Meiru," said Saito, feeling slightly intimidated.

"That woman! How dare she say such a thing to me!" said Meiru, ignoring Saito's greeting.

"Ummm, did I miss something?" asked Dekao.

"Don't worry Meiru, you'll beat her!" said Yaito taking her hands. "You won't let her get away with insulting you like that!"

Meiru nodded and together they made an imposing aura, Saito and the other's slowly backed away.

"Roll, what's up with your operator?" Lan asked.

"Ooooh, man what a mean person!" said Roll, also ignoring Lan.

Glyde nodded in agreement, "Yes, Yaito-sama should never hear such insults."

Lan and Gutsman exchanged puzzled glances but didn't say anything.

The time of the battle drew near and Meiru stood up from where she and Yaito were silently exchanging battle strategies. "Good luck Meiru!" said Yaito. "Beat that ugly old hag."

"I will, don't you worry!" said Meiru and she marched off down the hall.

Saito, Dekao and Tohru stood there silently very confused as to what was going on. Yaito rounded on them as soon as Meiru was out of sight, "Well! What are you waiting for? Let's go watch Meiru beat that bad woman!"

Lan chucked, "I can't argue with that," he said silently.

Saito said "Shhhh," quietly but silently agreed. Even though he had to get ready for his own battle in the main dome. Hopefully he could finish it fast enough to see the end of Meiru's battle.

They followed Yaito to their seats and sat down just as Kero began her commentary. "And here we are, with the newest battle starting in the sub arena! The main arena battle will begin in ten minutes and I will now introduce the competitors in this battle. On the right we see Meiru and her lovely navi Roll!" She was greeted with tremendous applause and cheers. "And on the left we see Madoi and her navi Coloredman!" she was greeted with a smattering of applause and a few boos.

"Hey! I got this far didn't I?" Madoi yelled.

"Oh?" said Meiru in a superior voice, starting to feel a little more confident about going up against a person that was easily ten years older then her. "Not very popular are you?" she asked.

"Shut up! Well see what's what when this match is done!" said Madoi in a loud voice.

"Go little girl, kick her butt!" yelled someone from the crowd.

Meiru appreciated the comment but still face faulted from being called a little girl.

"Ready, and battle start!" Kero yelled out.

Roll ran forward and yelled out, "Heart Flash!" summoning a pink heart to her hand and throwing it at her foe.

"Oh no!" Coloredman squeaked in pretend surprise. "Madoi save me!"

"Che, a navi yelling out for an operator's help," said Meiru.

Madoi just smiled.

As the heart came in to hit Coloredman he took his big hands away from his face and gave roll a silly grin, "Not!"

Roll landed on the ground after throwing her attack and Coloredman smashed the small pink attack in his hands.

"Do you want to try that again?" he asked.

"Meiru-chan?" asked Roll, who was at a loss of what to do.

"Don't worry, aqua tower, slot in!" said Meiru pushing the chip into her PET.

"Aqua Tower!" yelled out Roll slamming her hand onto the ground, palm first where a jet of jet of water went up into the sky.

"Oh? You can do that too?" asked Madoi.

Coloredman brought forth his hands in a sweeping gesture and two smaller Coloredman's appeared. One of them yelled out, "Fire Tower!" and slammed his hand into the ground where a pillar of fire instantly sprang up. The second one yelled out, "Aqua Tower!" and an attack identical to Roll's came out.

The first tower ran into Roll's aqua tower immediately canceling out both attacks and giving a free place for the second aqua tower that was fired to head straight for Roll.

"Yahhhh!" she screamed out as the attack hit her and sent her flying into the far side of the arena.

"Hahahaha!" laughed Coloredman. "Do you really think you can beat me?" he asked.

"See, you are just a bratty little kid," Madoi jeered. "You're way in over you head, girl."

"Oh no! Roll has just taken a serious hit from Coloredman! Can the small navi hold on?" Kero's voice boomed overhead.

Roll shakily stood up holding her right arm and breathing heavily. "Yes," she panted.

"Good work, Roll!" Meiru cheered. "You can do it!"

"Oh, so you think you have a chance now that your navi is up?" Coloredman asked.

"How pathetic," said Madoi.

"Go!" yelled Coloreman and his two small cloned once again threw their attacks at Roll. She barely managed to dodge both but Coloredman had another trick up his sleeve. "Tama!" he yelled out throwing his large blue spotted balance ball at Roll where it scored a direct hit on the poor navi.

Meiru watched as once again her navi was sent flying. "Roll!" she yelled.

"Face it, you can't win!" said Madoi.

"Yes," Roll struggled to her feet again. "Yes we can. Don't listen to her Meiru-chan."

Meiru nodded. "I know we can win. Come on Roll! Are you ready to show everyone what we've got?" she yelled.

Roll nodded and stood up straight.

'I hope Saito is watching,' Meiru thought.

In the main dome, waiting for his match Saito sneezed.

"Don't be getting sick on me," Lan growled.

"Don't worry, I'm not," Saito said.

Back in the sub dome match Roll had launched herself on the offensive.

"Oh, going out with a bang?" asked Madoi. "Fine with me!" she yelled and gave Coloredman the necessary chips to pull of his devastating attack once again.

"Now Roll!" Meiru yelled.

"Hear Flash!" Roll yelled and threw twin hearts at the small Coloredman's.

"You really think that will work, after it failed you the first time?" Madoi asked.

"What makes you think this attack is the same?" she asked.

"What?" asked Madoi and watched in horror as the two hearts hit and were absorbed by the two clones.

Hearts appeared in their eyes they looked at Roll with admiration. "Oh beautiful Roll, what can we do for you?" one asked.

"Yes, how can we help?" the second one nodded.

Roll giggled cutely, "Well, you can attack that scary looking navi over there for me," she said and pointed at Colored.

They turned around and looked at Coloredman with twin glares. "You're scaring Roll!" said one.

"N-n-now wait a minute!" said Coloredman holding up his hands.

"You leave Roll alone!" the second one said.

"What?" screeched Madoi.

"Fire Tower!" the first one yelled and a fire attack came out.

It hit Coloredman square on and burned the navi badly.

"I think he needs to be cooled down, care to do the honors?" asked Roll to the second one.

"Ah Roll, what a caring person you are," he said, blinded by his affection. "Aqua Tower!" he yelled and sent the second attack at Coloredman.

He was hit by the rush of water and sent flying across the arena. "Score!" cheered Roll.

"Care to do the honors?" asked Meiru.

"Would I?" asked Roll. She jumped up into the air, "Heart Flash!" she yelled and sent the now deadly heart attack at Coloredman.

"Ah noooo!" he yelled out and was consumed by the light that came from the attack hitting him.

'Coloredman, log out,' the screen read.

The crowd roared its approval of the pink haired girl's victory.

"And in a stunning upset, Roll and Meiru pulled a miraculous come from behind win!" Kero commentated.

Yaito, Dekao and Tohru all came down to congratulate Meiru on her win. "Now we need to go see what's happening with Saito and Lan," said Yaito.

Meiru nodded and they all headed for the main dome.

OOOOOOO

Thanks for your reviews people, do realize that half this fic isn't mine, but Achie's. Also, I'm now shouldering the whole thing myself since she no longer write's Rockman.EXE fanfiction.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	8. Chapter 8

The main dome was naturally filled with numerous net battle enthusiasts, all cheering and shifting about impatiently, wanting the next battle to begin. Unfortunately for one skilled, yet shy net battler, their cheers were more of a concern than a blessing.

"Ugh... There are so many people," Saito said softly to himself, "My stomach is hurting..."

"Suck it up, you pansy," Lan snorted, "What's wrong with you? You've been in the dome already, remember?"

"I know, but I have a bad feeling," Saito said softly, feeling more and more apprehensive.

"If you back out, I'll never forgive you, ever," Lan said with a scowl, "I want to fight! Aren't you even a little excited?" 

"I am, it's just..." Saito sighed. "You're right, this is silly. I'll do my best, and I know you will too, right?" Lan only grinned and nodded.

"Your match is up," one of the backstage workers announced, "Let's give the people a show before they throw things at us." This did not help Saito's nerves one little bit. 

Hinoken smirked as he stood before the stadium audience in all his tight-spandex glory, smirking at the young challenger as Saito entered. The boy was nervous. Hinoken almost laughed at that. How could such a puny child even hope to defeat him, especially after his extensive training? 

Saito's face was beat red as he felt the eyes of countless onlookers watching him. Definitely, he was going to be sick.

"And in the main dome we have Hino Kenichi and his Fireman versus the challenger Hikari Saito and his navi Lan!" Kero shrieked out from the sound systems, causing the already jumpy Saito to stumble and fall flat on his face.

"Saito-kun, you're making me look bad again..." Lan groaned as he placed a hand over his face. Saito blushed at his navi's comment and quickly gathered himself back to his feet, trying to ignore the laughter from the crowd.

"S... Sorry," he said softly.

"Don't apologize; just plug me in already!" Lan ordered, and his operator was quick to follow the command. Fireman sneered at the smaller navi when he entered the battle stage, his arms folded in front of him in a superior manner.

"Your puny operator is going to be your downfall," Fireman said with a cocky laugh, "I'll enjoy watching him break under Hinoken-sama's power."

"Shut up," Lan snarled, "Saito-kun is a lot stronger than he acts! I know he is and we'll prove it to you when I break that furnace you call a head right off." Fireman only laughed.

"Lan, don't let him upset you," Saito said softly over the PET, "It's ok. We don't have to prove anything to them. You and I both know that we're strong and soon they will see too." Lan relaxed a little at that and nodded.

"Isn't that cute?" Hinoken chided as if talking to small children, "The net op giving their navi a pep talk. Too bad cuteness won't save you in this match, brat." Saito said nothing, only trying to focus his attention on the battlefield.

"Hino Kenichi versus Hikari Saito," Kero yelled over the loudspeaker, "Battle, start!"

Lan wasted no time jumping headfirst into battle, first attempting to drive a hard kick into Fireman's chest. The larger navi easily blocked by bracing himself and crossing his arms over his chest. When he made no move to try and counter, Lan began trying to break his defenses with a relentless wave of punches and kicks.

"Lan, don't waste too much energy," Saito said over the PET, finally starting to forget about the crowds and focus completely on the battle, "He might be waiting for an..."

Fireman suddenly pulled back and punched Lan hard right in the face, sending the small blue navi flying with a yelp of pain.

"... opening," Saito finished with a soft sigh.

Lan cursed as he righted himself on his landing. "Saito-kun, give me a chip! I'll rip this guy apart."

"Alright, but be more careful about falling for traps like that," Saito said as he selected one of their favorite battle chips, "Sword chip, slot-in."

Lan grinned as the sword formed in his hand.

"You think you're cleaver, don't you?" Fireman said with a chuckle, extending his hand as his own operator sent him a fire sword. Lan cursed mentally at that. Fireman's element type would raise the already powerful sword's attack.

"Lan, don't let it hit you," Saito said as the two navis began to exchange sword blows.

"Easier said than done," Lan snapped, barely managing to block the attacks as it was.

Saito frowned and thumbed through his pockets to look over his chip. All he had was a few spreads, shot guns, cannons, a barrier, swords and mini bombs. Nothing elemental aside from the elec sword. If only he had something that would do damage against Fireman's type...

"Well, these have saved us once before," Saito said softly as he pulled out one of his mini bombs, "Lan stand back." Lan was confused for a moment before jumping away from Fireman.

"You can't escape me," Fireman snarled as he dashed after Lan, sword raised for the kill, only to run face first into the explosion of a mini bomb.

"Idiot, what are you doing?" Hinoken snapped as he glared at the pixilated battle.

"I'm sorry, Hinoken-sama, it won't happen again..." Fireman said as he picked himself up after being thrown back by the blast.

"Still think my operator is weak?" Lan teased as he laughed at Fireman's expense.

"That was just a lucky shot," Fireman growled before he chuckled low and dark, "You'll see very soon just how weak your operator is... No one, especially not a flinchy little brat like that, can stand up to the power of the sun."

"Power of the sun...?" Lan repeated with a quirk of his brow, "If you think you have the power of the sun, then you're deluded. You can't even compare to a gas bubble."

"We'll see how cocky that attitude of yours is once we release our great strategy," Fireman said with another chuckle, "You and your operator will suffer."

Lan glared at Fireman before launching at him with his sword raised. "I'll beat you right now!" he snarled as he crashed his blade against Fireman's with a renewed anger behind every blow they exchanged. 

"And this match is really heating up!" Kero cheered, "It looks like Lan and Fireman are equally matched!"

The crowd roared its approval and agreement as the battle raged on with both operators and navis giving everything they had.

"It looks like we haven't missed too much," Tohru commented as he sat down next to Dekao.

"Good," Yaito said as she sat down on the other side of their large friend, "I want to see Lan rip this guy apart."

"For a lady, you sure are violent, Yaito-chan," Dekao commented, earning a sharp elbow jab to his ribs.

"Silence, fat one," Yaito hissed softly.

Meiru giggled softly as she sat next to Mariko. "How is Saito doing?" she asked.

"He seems to be doing very well," Mariko said, "But he looked so nervous when he came out..."

"Well, it isn't like Saito to put himself in the limelight," Meiru said, "I guess he would be nervous."

"Yes, but he seemed worried about something," Mariko said, "He wasn't so upset the last time when he fought with Miyuki-san." Meiru frowned softly as she turned her attention to the battle. 

Fireman snarled as he jumped back, forming his buster. "Fire arm!" he yelled as he released his flaming attack.

"Crap," Lan yelped and formed his buster, shooting down what he could and returning the punishment.

Hinoken only grinned as both navis took a hit and fell back. "It looks like they are stronger than we thought they would be," he mused, "Time for our secret weapon... Fireman, are you ready?"

"Yes, Hinoken-sama," the fire navi said as he rose to his feet. Hinoken snickered as he slotted in a battle chip.

"Lan, something is wrong," Saito gasped as Kero started to scream about something being wrong with the solar system and for everyone to try to remain calm.

"What do you mean?" Lan asked, hesitating when he heard Fireman laughing. He growled and glared darkly at the navi. "What have you done?" 

"Prepare to face the fury of the sun," Fireman laughed out. Lan definitely didn't like the sound of that. 

"W-What is this?" Yaito whimpered as the dome's roof began to close in on them.

"Perhaps a bug in the system?" Glyde offered.

"Let's try to stay calm," Mariko said, though it as obvious that she was worried too.

"Oh, no, the battle stage!" Meiru gasped as it flickered for a moment then came back online, shining as if the sun itself had been dragged down from the heavens to their arena.

"It's getting really hot in here," Tohru said as he began to fan himself. 

"The light is killing my eyes," Dekao groaned, "I don't know if I can take this."

"Saito..." Meiru said softly, putting a hand to her chest, "He's in danger." 

"Lan, are you ok?" Saito cried out as he tried to shield his eyes from the light. 

"Yeah, I'm fine," Lan said, "What's going on? Are you hurt?"

"The light is so intense, it's hard to see," Saito said, "and... it's really hot..."

Hinoken laughed. "Do you like our little strategy?" he crowed, "Now Fireman's strength has been multiplied by the sun's light and he'll use it to rip your precious navi apart."

As if on cue, Fireman dashed in and slammed a fist into Lan's stomach. The smaller navi couldn't even react as he was thrown back, skidding a few feet before coming to a stop.

"O... Ow..." he groaned softly, his stomach smoking just from the punch. 

"Lan," Saito gasped, "Lan, say something!"

"Saito-kun... You should get out of here," Lan said as he forced himself to sit up, "I don't need your help to take this guy down."

"What are you talking about?" Saito asked, eyes widening with hurt, "Of course you need me! Fireman is too strong for you to take down on your own!"

"Just get out of here before things get too hot for you to handle," Lan snapped, "Your body can't handle this." Saito hesitated a moment.

"I'm not going to abandon you," he said softly as he pulled out another chip, "elec sword, slot in."

"Saito-kun!" Lan objected, but didn't have time to argue as Fireman dashed in for the kill. The smaller navi had all he could do just to keep the larger of the pair from landing a blow with his sword, but he couldn't avoid another hard kick to the side that sent him skidding again.

"Darn it, I can't play with you anymore," Lan snarled as he leapt back to his feet, "Saito-kun's in danger, so just die like a good little cheater."

"Who's playing?" Fireman sneered as he raised his buster and slammed it into the ground, "Flame Tower!" Lan could only stare in horror as the wall of fire slammed into him. 

"Lan!" Roll cried out, placing her hands over her mouth, "He's in trouble... I'm scared."

"As strong as Lan is, he doesn't stand a chance with the solar system going crazy like this," Glyde said, "Saito-kun also seems to be in pain. The heat must be unbearable down next to that light..." 

"We've got to do something," Iceman hissed with a scowl, "Tohru-kun! Let's go!"

"You're right," Tohru said over the PET, "Kero said it was a virus causing all of this mess, right?" He looked to Yaito.

"Yeah, so let's go," the small girl said as she jumped from her seat. 

"Time for me and Gutsman to save the day again," Dekao announced as he also stood, earning a kick to the shin from Yaito.

"There's no time for this," Tohru said, "Let's hurry." The boy didn't wait for an answer as he raced off to help his friend with Yaito and Dekao on his heels. 

Saito groaned as he felt his vision starting to blur. "I don't know... if I can take this," he said softly to himself. What was he doing, anyway? He was no hero and certainly didn't have a strong body, but he couldn't bring himself to leave even though all common sense was screaming at him to flee.

"Lan..." he said softly as he strained his eyes to look at the battle, watching his navi barely manage to pull through, "I wish... I was half as strong as you... I want to become stronger... so I won't run... ever again."

"Saito-kun..." Lan said softly, hearing his operator and wanting to argue that now was a good time to be weak and run, but at the same time, he wanted Saito to become stronger as well.

Saito weakly thumbed through his chips, pulling out another sword. He blinked, trying to clear his vision. Suddenly it was very hard for him to figure out where to slot in the battle chip. Everything turned sideways before a black haze completely covered his vision. 

"Challenger, Hikari Saito, is down!" Kero cried over the loudspeaker as the boy's body hit the floor.

"SAITO-KUN!" Lan yelled out the name like it was a life support. A life support that was now lying face down on the floor.

"Heh, looks like the brat couldn't take it," Hinoken jeered. "Don't worry, at least he won't die, unlike you!"

"You bastard!" Lan screamed and threw himself at Fireman. "Bring back Lan!"

Fireman countered with a roundhouse punch that hit Lan in the face and sent him careening into the rubble. He flipped head over heals a few timed and lay still.

"Delete," Fireman said.

Tohru, Yaito and Dekao ran out into the hall desperately looking for a place to plug in their navis. They heard the distant call of Kero's voice saying that Saito was down. Dekao stopped in his tracks.

"Dekao?" Yaito asked in a small voice.

Dekao clenched his fist until it shook, "He doesn't deserve to loose," he whispered. "Not like this."

"Then let's do something about it, degasu!" Gutsman yelled.

"Right!" Iceman cheered.

Tohru found a plug in port by the phones. "There," he said.

"Plug in!" Yaito yelled. "Glyde!"

"Iceman!"

"Gustman!"

"Transmission!" the kids yelled together and pushed the small cords into the holders.

Their navi's disappeared in a blur of pixels and reappeared in the main net computer of the main dome. "Oh my gosh!" Iceman said.

"Viruses," Dekao said darkly. "I bet Hinoken is behind this."

"Then let's turn the tide!" Yaito said. "Paladin sword, slot in!" she yelled and Glyde launched himself at the viruses.

"Go Gutsman!" Dekao yelled.

"Megaguts punch!" Gutsman yelled and tore through more viruses.

"Blizzard!" Iceman yelled. More viruses were pixilated and deleted.

"Glyde, look out degasu!" Gutsman yelled and Glyde looked up to see a large fire virus over his head.

"Ice tower, slot in!" Tohru yelled.

"Ice Tower!" Iceman yelled and slammed his hands down on the ground. Huge spikes of ice came out of the ground at an alarming speed and deleted the viruses.

"Thanks Iceman," Glyde said with apparent relief in his voice.

"No problem," Iceman said back.

"Guts Hammer!" Gutsman yelled and deleted three more viruses.

"Come on, we gotta save Saito!" Dekao yelled.

It was then that it hit Yaito and Tohru, Dekao really cared for Saito regardless of what he said to the smaller boy in class. He was genuinely worried, they all were.

"Flame tower!" Fireman yelled and sent a blistering column of heat towards Lan.

The small navi jumped as high as his wobbly legs would allow him. He felt the heat radiating off of the attack but was thankful that it didn't hit him in full. He landed a few feet away and panted.

"So pathetic," Fireman jeered. "And you call yourself strong."

"What, being strong means you take out people by making them faint?" Lan spat. "Or by using underhanded means to win? Is that what it means to be strong? Cause if it is, I don't think I want to be strong."

"You little brat!" Fireman yelled and hit Lan so that he spun a few feet away and collapsed on the ground.

"Go ahead and delete him," Hinoken said in an almost bored voice.

Fireman placed his foot on Lan's head and shoved it into the ground making him cry out. "Give me a few more minutes," he said maliciously.

"Blizzard!" Iceman yelled.

Another virus was gone. Iceman put his hands on his knees and gasped for breath. They were using all their energy and he didn't know how much more they could take.

"Glyde Cannon!" Glyde yelled and the next two were deleted.

"Damn, do they ever end?" Dekao cursed.

"Iceman, look out!" Tohru yelled into his PET.

Yaito, Dekao, Gutsman and Glyde looked on in horror as Iceman was towered by a huge dragon like fire virus.

"Fin cutter!" A new voice yelled. The bright attack sliced through the virus over Iceman and for good measure it went through ten more.

Yaito, Dekao and Tohru looked in surprise at the man standing next to them. He gave them a victory sign and said, "Beeeeef!"

"Commander Beef!" they said in mild surprise.

"I thought you might need a little help," he said. "Sharkman!"

"I'm on it!" Sharkman said and ran through the other viruses like they were metool.

"Wow…" the kids said in apparent awe.

"Don't forget to eat your calcium!" Commander Beef said as he ran off.

Everyone sweatdropped, including Sharkman.

The sun roof slowly pulled its self back. A cool breeze filled the now sweltering dome and brushed against Saito's cheeks.

Fireman gave Lan another kick that sent him into the ground. He didn't yell out but he was disgusted to find that he couldn't move.

"Time to end this!" Hinoken yelled out and pushed three fire towers into his PET.

"Triple Fire Tower!" Fireman said and slammed his arms into the ground with as much force as he could muster.

Three jets of flame arced into the sky and started to close in on Lan. Just then Yaito, Dekao and Tohru ran into the room.

"Oy! Saito you jerk! Get up or your stupid navi is gonna get deleted!" Dekao yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Wha?" Saito opened his eyes. His head a still swimming with the heat.

"Saito-kun!" Lan yelled.

Saito stood up and looked in horror at his navi's predicament. Then he slotted in three chips.

Three mini bombs appeared and destroyed the towers. Lan stood up and became visible through the smoke.

Fireman's armor lost its glow and Hinoken looked horrified. "My power!" he yelled.

"Aqua sword, slot in!" Saito said.

Lan ran at Fireman and stabbed him right through the middle. "For your sake, I hope that really hurt," Lan said.

Fireman disappeared in a Logout message before he could reply.

"Thanks for helping me," Saito said blushing.

Meiru jumped on him and smiled. "I'm just glad you're okay."

Yaito elbowed Dekao. "Ow, oh yeah, glad you and your stupid navi are okay," he muttered.

"Well, you helped by yelling at me," Saito smiled at Dekao.

"Don't get used to the help, pipsqueak," he muttered. "I just want to be the one to defeat you."

"Oh riiight," Lan said from his PET.

"You watch your mouth!" Dekao yelled. "I just helped to save you!"

"I could have defeated him on my own," Lan scoffed.

"Why you!" Dekao yelled.

"Lan," Saito said in a warning tone.

Lan sighed and didn't retaliate.

Roll smiled and hugged him. "You did a good job," she whispered. "Everyone is glad you're safe."

Lan blushed and didn't say anything.

"Get away from my Roll-degasu!" Gutsman yelled.

Everyone laughed and waited with anticipation for the next battle.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

New chappie. Enjoy :D


End file.
